Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Make-up Exam (2)
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⚠️ ERROR ⚠️ Critical damage detected in the barrier! Those inside the barrier, please evacuate outside immediately! "Even if we wanted to evacuate..."
The spear master muttered as he gazed at the barrier that had darkened in an instant, trapped inside it.
"What the hell is going on...!"
"The mage seemed to go berserk, and then suddenly the barrier turned black. What in the world..."
As the situation took a bizarre turn, the three who had quickly joined forces stared at the blackened interior of the barrier, unable to hide their perplexed expressions.
How long had they been looking around?
As Noah scanned the area in search of the missing mage, the archer spoke up.
"Let's call a temporary truce for now. This is clearly an abnormal situation."
"Yes. This doesn't seem like the time for us to be fighting each other."
"Hmm... No choice, I suppose. Even I can tell something's off right now."
Even the spear master nodded in agreement, and the archer, who had been surveying the surroundings, continued.
"Everyone, stay put and wait for rescue. With the barrier turned pitch black like this, they're sure to notice the anomaly from outside and come save us."
They had to refrain from rash exploration without knowing how the interior had changed.
The missing mage weighed on his mind, but right now, they were barely able to protect themselves.
Pushing aside pangs of conscience, the other two reluctantly agreed with the archer's proposal, their faces uneasy.
"Alright, then let's stand guard here. I'll check if there's any danger nearby."
"Yes!"
"Got it."
"Sylphid, if you would."
At the archer's words, a small green spirit appeared in the air.
"Scout the area."
──!
The Sylphid vanished with a gentle breeze at the archer's command. Noah, who had been watching silently, slowly opened his mouth.
"But black mana... I've never seen anything like it in my life."
"Of course not. Black mana is the exclusive domain of demons, after all."
"Demons?"
"Yeah. Only the demons living on the Diabolos Continent beyond this one possess black mana. It's the kind of mana you only see on the front lines..."
The spear master's ominous words made Noah and the archer's expressions harden.
"This is demon mana?"
"But the mage we were fighting was clearly..."
"Right, a human."
"I did think he had an unusually strong amount of mana for a dropout..."
How desperate must they have been to join hands with an enemy they were fighting, feeling they had no chance of winning?
The archer, who had sensed the enemy's presence even more keenly through her spirits, looked incredulous.
"A human possessing demon mana? Impossible! Black mana is the deadliest poison to any non-demon. No one would accept demon mana unless they were throwing their life away..."
"Well, I don't know the details either, but what we're seeing right now is reality."
"Hmm..."
It was then.
"Aaaah──!"
"Hey!"
"...!"
The archer, who couldn't stay still out of unease, suddenly screamed and collapsed, changing the air around them.
"...! Dodge!"
The spear master noticed first.
He swiftly scooped up the fallen archer and twisted away, evading the black arrow flying toward him.
"What the...!"
He kicked away the arrow that stuck to him relentlessly, landed on the ground, and then swung his foot toward the front.
The aura-infused kick created a gust that scattered all the incoming arrows, unable to withstand the pressure.
"Hey! You okay, kid?!"
"I'm fine! And I'm not a kid!"
The spear master, who had called the relatively short Noah a kid for a guy, nodded in relief at the immediate reply.
"Be careful! Someone's targeting us!"
It was probably the mage, but certainty was not to be assumed.
In response to the spear master's shout, Noah slashed away the incoming arrows with his sword and approached him.
"Ugh..."
"Hey, girl! You alright?!"
"...I'm okay."
Spotting the archer staggering to her feet, the spear master hurriedly shouted.
"Someone's targeting us! Stay sharp!"
"I know. Sylphid got forcibly recalled while scouting."
The archer added that the shock had come from the forced recall as she nocked an arrow and began guarding his rear.
"Hey, girl! Did you spot the bastard?!"
"No! The moment I saw a black silhouette, Sylphid got yanked back instantly!"
"Tch! What a pain!"
Now explosions were going off in the air like landmines, and the spear master clicked his tongue loudly as he fell back.
Meanwhile, Noah joined the archer and slashed away a mana bolt flying toward her, shouting loudly.
"Thug! Behind you!"
"...!"
At Noah's warning, he instinctively turned, feeling mana filling his vision, and immediately drew up aura throughout his body.
"Grraaah!"
"Damn...! Cover me, please!"
A massive mana bolt struck the spear master as he channeled his aura.
A huge explosion rang out as he was slammed into the ground. Noah rushed to him, swinging his sword, while the archer from the rear intercepted mana bolts heading for the spear master.
"Thug! You okay?!"
"Urgh... I'm not a thug, kid!"
"I'm not a kid either! If you can yell, you must be fine!"
Bleeding from all over, the spear master finally stood, glaring fiercely toward the distance in the air.
"Hoo... Hey, looks like we can't wait for backup."
"...Yeah."
"Damn it! That guy's completely lost his mind!"
Just then, they spotted the mage approaching from afar in the sky, gripping their weapons tightly with tense expressions.
The mage, floating in the air with eyes rolled back, clearly bereft of reason, oozed thick black mana endlessly from his body.
"Looks like he's even drawing on his life force."
"What the hell did that idiot take?!"
He had clearly ingested some suspicious drug.
Or perhaps received mana directly from a demon.
Either way, it was clear he had done something unforgivable.
The three sighed variously and launched their attack on the mage.
"I'll take point! Cover me, girl!"
"I'll draw his attention!"
The spear master kicked off strongly and charged forward. Noah coated his feet in aura and shot forward like a bullet.
"Sylphid! Help them!"
At the same time, the archer summoned the low-grade wind spirit and fired arrows at the mage while supporting Noah and the spear master.
■■■■■──!!
Wind swirled at their feet, boosting their speed. The mage, screaming wildly, naturally deployed magic.
But magic cast without reason wouldn't activate properly.
The mana drawing the magic circle warped like a scribble, then exploded into pure physical force hurtling toward Noah.
"Watch out! You'll die if it hits!"
With the barrier corrupted, even a fatal wound might not trigger teleportation. They approached the mage cautiously, prioritizing evasion.
The spear master dodged the mana bolt stably, loaded aura into his fist, and aimed for the mage. Noah swung his sword at the mage simultaneously.
"Take this!"
"Haaah!"
But just before their attacks reached the mage.
"Wait! Dodge, both of──!"
■■■■■──!
A powerful shockwave burst from the mage.
───
"Ugh..."
My head hurts.
Did I black out for a bit?
Clutching my throbbing head, I slowly rose.
"What the hell just..."
I trailed off, speechless at the scene before me.
■■■■■■■──!
The mage, bleeding from every orifice, screaming nonstop.
The spear master and archer collapsed motionless on the ground, possibly unconscious.
And finally, the massive black sun hovering over the mage's head.
The overwhelming mana emanating from it made my hands tremble.
'Everyone's down.'
'No rescue coming?'
I had no idea how much time had passed.
It felt like at least 30 minutes subjectively, but time always drags in battle.
'Might've been less than a minute actually.'
Hard to judge now.
But one thing was certain...
"If I don't step up, everyone's going to die."
This wasn't about could or couldn't.
I had to do it.
I slapped my shaking legs hard from fear and stood.
Others would tell me not to be reckless.
Naturally so.
I wasn't a genius talent, nor a skilled prodigy—just a mediocre hack with petty tricks.
Even she felt that way standing before him.
However.
But still.
{Noah, fear is always inside you.}
'Fear is always inside me.'
The hero I dream of never runs from a crisis like this!
Staring at the black mana piercing my skin, I bit my lip hard.
Scared of the mana filling the barrier?
'Terrified.'
Scared of the black sun in the sky?
'Terrified.'
Scared of dying?
'Terrified.'
But.
"What's scarier is dying without protecting everyone!"
A powerful explosion erupted at my feet simultaneously.
Aura compressed to the limit in my feet.
I precisely batted away mana bolts flying through the blurring scenery.
{Remember, Noah. Magic is imagination. Believe you can do it. That's what matters.}
As I leaped into the air batting mana bolts, my mother's words resurfaced.
'Magic is imagination.'
{It's not a lack of mana preventing you from casting magic. It's your imagination. Create clearer, more detailed images. Once you form the perfect shape──}
{Magic will always answer your call.}
"Magic always answers my call."
I imagined a massive shield.
A sturdy shield protecting me from all attacks around.
*Cough*─
Blood poured from my body from overtaxing my mana.
'Just a bit more.'
But I didn't stop.
I kept visualizing until the image in my head was perfect.
After deflecting dozens of mana bolts, just before one I couldn't block hit me.
⚡ Arts Skill Activated ⚡ Aegis A massive shield enveloped me.
■■■■■──!!
"Haaah!"
The shield blocked the ensuing shockwave. I leaped off it immediately.
Thanks to the shield stopping the shockwave and mana bolts, the mage's body was wide open!
I envisioned my strongest strike I knew.
A brilliant golden strike──!
*Spurt*─!
"Kuh!"
Blood burst from my arm from the excessive aura use.
My sword hand was already useless.
"Uwaaaah!"
In that instant, the sword wrapped in blue aura suddenly glowed gold.
■■■■■──!!
'The black mana!'
As black mana evaporated along the sword's path───
"Guh!"
I thrust the sword into the mage.
Immediately after, the two plummeted toward the ground.
Capturing the slowly falling mage in my sight, just before losing consciousness.
"......"
Suddenly, warm hands embraced me.
"Ch...airman?"
"Good work."
Seeing the reliable face through my blurring vision, I slowly smiled──
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Brave Sword acquisition confirmed. Target's personal information confirmed. ...Searching... ...Searching... Search complete. Target confirmed as next Hero. Setting target Noah Premier as Player from now on. Status window access unlocked. Quest system unlocked. Affinity system unlocked. Main Scenario auto-accepted. ...Failed... Retrying. ...Failed... Retrying. ...Failed... ⚠️ CRITICAL ERROR ⚠️ Major defect confirmed in Main Scenario. Searching for cause. ...Searching... Search complete. Target Yeon Je-seong's information does not match. Restoring target to original state. Ho҈̥̦̳̥̠̦̲̤̱̠̦̲͉̩̈́̑͐̎̐̔͛͆̀͊̌̔̽̈̊̃we҉̭̟̘͙͇͔̝͈̩͚͙͆͛͛̉͑͌̈͛͐́̈́͌͆̀̊́̍͌ͅve҉̩͎̖̜̩͙̤̞̞͉̱͉̭̫̂̏́̉̉̓̏̋̈̐̿͂̚̚r.҈̦͖͉͖̫͚̣̥̗̘͉̯̩̗̙̦̩̦̈́͑̿͗̒̓̏͌̎̓͐̅̈́ ERROR! ERROR! ERROR! Unidentifiable intervention detected! Defect wprjgkftn……! ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Main Scenario deemed unsuitable for execution. Initiating Main Scenario revision. Searching optimal path for target Noah Premier to achieve objective. ...Searching... ...Searching... Search complete. Optimal path discovered. Commencing path guidance.