Chapter 79
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: Sudden Gate (8)
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“...”
“...”
Apart from that, the magic displayed by the Archmage had given everyone a considerable shock.
No, more precisely, the heroes and cadets walking the path of magic were dealt an indescribable blow.
What the hell was that just now?
In particular, Jo In-jun, known among the instructors and cadets as a magic genius, had his thoughts grind to a halt after witnessing that spell.
Magic was generally cast in accordance with the amount of mana one possessed, but the Archmage's magic rejected such common sense.
If I didn't imagine it, he used the mana scattered in the atmosphere.
Magic cast with mana from within the body inevitably had its limits.
Even the current Archmage, using only his internal mana, could only manage one or two large-scale spells at most.
If I could use the atmosphere's mana too...
No matter what he imagined in his head, he would be able to manifest it as magic.
But how do you do it?
Jo In-jun wanted to rush to the Archmage right then and there, but monsters still remained outside the walls.
The Archmage's magic had killed two thousand out of three thousand, and the remaining thousand were badly injured but charging forward nonetheless.
“Everyone, hold your positions!”
“The battle isn't over yet!”
The voices of the Rock Fortress's knights and Hero Association members rang out.
As they said, the fight wasn't finished, so Jo In-jun held his ground and continued casting magic.
This should be about right.
I thought as I looked at the monsters, more than half of which had been wiped out.
In truth, it would have been simple to sweep them all away as the Archmage, but I held back.
The reason was the same one I'd told Kang Ju-young: to give the cadets a chance to grow as well.
Since I know we have to go through some kind of event with this gate.
No matter how much I rampaged here and there to block the world's three great crime organizations, events still occurred in the end.
Fortunately, I could handle most events like this one somehow, but there might be cases I couldn't.
At the very least, I have to prevent the cadets from getting swept up in events and dying.
That was why I'd given them this relatively safe(?) real combat experience.
In any case, the first to react to my consideration was Oh Ye-rin, who seemed awestruck by the previous magic.
“Whoa. That spell just now killed more than half the monsters.”
“Still plenty left, so stay sharp. How's the weapon?”
For reference, the cadets had each been given one of the soldiers' weapons.
The problem was their poor condition, which made Oh Ye-rin grimace.
“The weapons are the absolute worst, no question. I guarantee they'll break after a few swings.”
“The soldiers don't have weapons either. Try to use them without breaking them.”
On top of that, they were so short on weapons that even when I asked for just six swords, they vehemently refused.
Luckily, after I handed over a few via Collection Cuisine Summon, the soldier did give me six swords that weren't even fit as scrap metal.
Might've been better to pick up rocks from the base of the walls.
Setting aside the weapon issue, using magic as the Archmage had revealed a few facts.
I gained the Archmage's power in the 10th world.
I realized there that even S-rank Kang Ju-young couldn't sense the mana I'd obtained from that place.
In the 10th world, I'd assimilated with the world itself, reaching the Archmage realm where I manifested my will as magic.
The problem was that the mana distributed in this 15th world wasn't the mana from the 10th world, so I had no choice but to use a workaround.
I spread the mana from the 10th world across this area and used it to cast magic.
Yet Kang Ju-young couldn't sense the mana I spread.
She did notice the magic manifestation itself, though, lifting her head the moment I cast it.
From her perspective, it probably looked like I was casting magic while skipping the entire process.
Thinking that far, I now gazed at the monsters that had closed in right up to the walls.
Monsters with heads like dogs, wolves, or hyenas were charging while bleeding profusely.
Even if I left them alone, wouldn't they die from blood loss?
For the time being, they were prioritizing attacking the walls, so I activated [Warlord's Weapon] to control my six swords.
Send five of them elsewhere for now.
To aid immediately if danger arose elsewhere, I sent five swords to either flank.
Then I kept the last one as a final bastion just in case, and summoned a spirit to fight the remaining monsters.
“Fire Spirit.”
Pabat!—
[Fire Spirit, Appears!]
A red flash appeared before me, materializing a female spirit with short hair and a prickly expression.
“Burn those charging monsters to ash.”
[Monsters? Those things? Leave it to me!]
The Fire Spirit shouted confidently before flying toward the monsters and extending her hand.
[Burn to nothing!]
Hwahrrruk!—
Flames reminiscent of a modern flamethrower shot from her hand.
The fire stretched 10 to 20 meters, fairly powerful in its own right, but woefully inadequate in my eyes.
Even with the Spirit Summoner class, that's all it can do?
Part of it was my low magic power rank, but the spirit's rank was low too.
Still.
The monsters were getting swept away without me needing to lift a finger.
Come to think of it, the soldiers here were veterans among veterans, fighting a thousand monsters every two or three days.
Moreover, the survivors from the Archmage's spell were bleeding out heavily, so it was only natural they'd dominate.
This is a bit different from what I expected.
I'd anticipated a fierce battle that wouldn't injure the cadets too badly.
But most monsters had been handled by the Rock Fortress soldiers, leaving nearly all the cadets as spectators.
Only the archers and mages among the cadets occasionally helped the soldiers take down monsters; otherwise, nothing.
At least there are plenty left.
Scanning the forest with spatial power spread as the Archmage, I saw 30 to 40 thousand monsters gathered.
Naturally, there was a boss-level monster rallying them, so another fight—and opportunity—might arise.
“W-We won!”
“We did it!”
“What was that spell?! It was awesome!”
“We're all alive!”
As the soldiers finished off the last monsters, everyone laughed like madmen, reveling in the victory.
Hm.
I had no time to mind the soldiers, focusing instead on the Archmage.
The moment the battle ended there, people had swarmed him, demanding my attention.
So it was the magic after all.
Concentrating through the Archmage's viewpoint, I saw the Hero Association members and cadets crowding around.
“Excuse me, could I ask how you cast that spell just now?”
“Please teach us.”
Looking around from the Archmage's perspective, I spotted Jo In-jun and Hong Ju-a among the crowd.
They probably couldn't replicate it even if taught, but to avoid pointless hassle, I gave a vague response.
“I assimilated my will with the world and distorted its laws.”
“Pardon? What does that mean?”
Naturally, no one understood what I'd said and asked again.
“In simple terms, I used the mana spread throughout the world to cast it. Impossible for you lot. At the very least, you'd need to meet the minimum condition of being an acknowledged Archmage.”
“So that means...”
I nodded.
“You'd need to become an Archmage at least to even attempt it.”
Of course, there were no Archmages among them.
They looked disappointed but nodded in understanding anyway.
This should motivate Jo In-jun and Hong Ju-a to aim for Archmage.
What after that? Would we meet again in this Archmage body?
I wasn't too worried, but one Hero Association member looked at me and asked something unexpected.
“By the way, mentioning publicly known Archmages... you're not from around here, are you?”
“Hm.”
I stroked the Archmage's beard out of habit.
After some deliberation, it seemed best to be honest if I wanted to reveal the Archmage outside.
“Of course not. I'm just here briefly to help Kang Ju-young.”
“Pardon? This is an emergency gate—a historical reenactment gate—and you intruded?”
“Not hard if certain conditions are met.”
“I-Impossible. Incredible.”
Even after giving the answer they wanted, the crowd showed no sign of leaving.
“Anyway, answering questions is tiring. Time for me to go.”
With no choice, I announced my departure first, and the crowd reluctantly nodded and dispersed.
Afterward, Petra approached the Archmage to express her gratitude and guide him to lodgings for the night.
The others were sent to the soldiers' barracks, but the Archmage was led inside the castle where Petra stayed.
Hm.
Additionally, there were two of us here: the Absolute Clone made for Collection Cuisine Summon and the Archmage.
Cadet Lee Seong-min's body was resting in the soldiers' barracks like the rest.
First, I need to move Lee Seo-jun.
I used the Absolute Clone for cuisine summons to relocate Lee Seo-jun.
Pat—
Upon sudden teleportation, Lee Seo-jun glanced around before thanking me.
-Ah, Lee Seong-min sunbae. You worked hard today.
“Controlling two clones is hard work. The issue is conquering this gate, though.”
Simply repelling monsters didn't clear the gate.
Lee Seo-jun knew that too, nodding as he replied.
-Yes. We need to figure out the specific conditions. Just blocking monsters is a waste of time.
“That's why I'm going to talk to Petra.”
-How do you plan to do that?
“Nothing complicated. Just barge in and ask what she wants.”
-......Yes.
Lee Seo-jun looked like he had a lot to say but didn't object.
He probably would have normally repelled a few waves, built rapport with Petra, and learned her true feelings that way.
But that takes too long.
Opting for the direct approach, I used spatial power to locate and teleport to Petra.
Pabat!—
“Who... who are you?”
Petra immediately rose and half-drew her sword.
Anyone could see it was a swift response, but upon confirming it was me, she sheathed it again.
“That soldier. How did you get in here?”
I calmly pondered this historical reenactment gate.
Lee Seo-jun and Kang Ju-young said Petra was the key figure, holding the conquest key.
Then fulfilling everything Petra wants should do it.
Thinking simply, I addressed her in a tone that firmly established superiority.
“Tell me what you desire. I'll grant it.”
“What nonsense is that? My desires? You think you're a god or something?”
“A god...”
To that, I removed the helmet covering my face and met Petra's eyes.
I wasn't a god, but if that's what she wanted, I could play the part.
“If you desire it, I shall become your god.”