The Archmage's Humiliating Tumble
I had definitely warned her. “…Ah, ahaha.”
An awkward, hollow laugh slipped out of me.
Ri-en, the one who had turned the entire plaza into a disaster zone, was staring straight through me. Her eyes asked a single question.
Who the hell are you?
Without breaking eye contact, she began walking toward me. Slow, deliberate steps.
Click. Clack.
The sound of her high-heeled thigh-high boots striking the plaza floor rang out with an especially chilling echo. The closer she came, the heavier the oppressive pressure weighing down the space around us grew.
‘…Hmm.’
This situation had become a massive headache.
Was I really supposed to throw down with the Magic Tower’s successor right here in public? That would cause all kinds of problems.
After all, it was the Magic Tower. The one and only in the entire world. The place hailed as the pinnacle of magic.
Being its successor meant she was already chosen to stand at the very top of the magical world one day. That was exactly why even the Association couldn’t touch her. No one wanted to make an enemy of the Magic Tower.
Honestly, I hadn’t understood what everyone meant about there being “no benefit in meeting her right now.”
‘…I get it now. She really is an arrogant, spoiled brat. Or maybe just flat-out insane. Take your pick.’
I considered running. But she had already locked onto me as her target. The moment I showed my back, she would almost certainly blast me with a spell.
“Ha…”
I let out a short sigh and muttered, so quietly that the words barely left my lips.
“Archmage. Tell me her weakness. Now.”
The moment I finished speaking, a chat window rose from the system.
Anyone watching would think the two of them were mortal enemies. Was there anyone else in the world who wanted to trample their own past this badly?
Well, she had been embarrassed about it from the start.
…Though honestly, even I would feel ashamed if I were her.
“Just tell me already,” I mouthed silently.
Tell me how to wreck your own past.
The Archmage immediately began pouring out messages as if she had been waiting for this.
Detecting surrounding mana, huh.
“…I see.”
In other words, silent casting might look incredibly powerful from the outside. But it demanded an equally extreme level of focus. Because she poured every ounce of concentration into that single moment of casting, her reaction speed to incoming mana directed at her slowed down.
Basically, if she met someone on equal footing and got counterattacked, she wouldn’t be able to respond in time.
A faint smile naturally spread across my lips.
It was the perfect weakness for me.
The blind spot created by her arrogant certainty that no one could possibly be her equal.
A skill immediately came to mind.
Memorize.
There were currently two spells stored in my Memorize: Lightning Bolt and Quake.
The one that would be hardest for her to react to was obviously…
By then, Ri-en had closed the distance to roughly ten meters. Her crimson eyes flashed as they scanned me up and down.
It was an unpleasant gaze, like she was looking at an interesting specimen.
“What was that just now?” she demanded arrogantly.
She was asking what the hell I had just done.
“Don’t tell me you’re that White guy? No, that can’t be right. The skill you used on Ganghwado was completely different.”
Her expression was one of pure disbelief. She was comparing me to White while trying to figure out how I had shattered her mana.
What surprised me more was the fact that she even knew about the Plasma Cannon I had used on Ganghwado.
How did she find out?
“I am asking you a question. What is your—”
“L-Lady Ri-en!! Please stop this at once!!”
Before she could finish, Lee Chaeyeon jumped in, shouting.
Her face had gone deathly pale. She had brought Association staff with her and was desperately positioning herself between us.
“Haa, haa…! If you cause any more trouble here, it will be a serious problem!!”
Lee Chaeyeon’s back was soaked with sweat.
Of course it was.
From her perspective, this had to be a nightmare. On one side was the next ruler of the Magic Tower, who looked ready to explode at any moment. On the other was me, a natural awakener.
She had staked everything on treating me as a potential successor, so she knew exactly what I was capable of.
If Ri-en and I went all-out here, it would turn into a catastrophe.
“Move.”
Ri-en didn’t even spare Lee Chaeyeon a glance.
“How dare a mere Association employee from some tiny country…”
Chilling mana began rising from beneath her feet. The Association staff couldn’t withstand the pressure and started collapsing to the ground.
Lee Chaeyeon barely held herself up on trembling legs, sending me a desperate look.
Please hold back.
Please don’t do this.
But even as I met that pleading gaze, I twisted my lips into a smile.
“Pfft.”
A short, contempt-filled snort of laughter.
For a moment, the entire area seemed to freeze over. Lee Chaeyeon’s pupils shook violently, as if an earthquake had struck them. She stared at me in utter disbelief, like she was hearing hallucinations screaming, Are you insane?! What the hell are you doing?!
“…You. Did you just laugh at me?”
Ri-en’s pale face had flushed red.
It was probably the first humiliation she had ever felt in her life. Everyone had always groveled before her.
The killing intent swirling in those red eyes told me exactly how furious she was.
So I shrugged and opened my mouth.
“Yeah, I did. Got a problem?”
“What did you—!”
“You.”
“…?”
“Do you even know who I am? No? Have you figured out what my ability is?”
I shrugged again, my voice dripping with mockery.
“Of course you don’t. You don’t even know who you’re picking a fight with and you just charge in. It’s honestly hilarious.”
“Y-you…!”
“If you think you can, then go ahead.”
I poured every ounce of nastiness I possessed into the provocation.
And it landed perfectly.
Behind Ri-en, a massive sphere of flame was already flickering into existence.
“Hunter-nim!! You can’t!! Please!!”
Lee Chaeyeon screamed, her face completely drained of color.
But I didn’t even twitch an eyebrow.
“Besides, if you end up getting beaten… the so-called successor of the Magic Tower will have lost to some random guy she didn’t even know. Are you sure you’re okay with that?”
I phrased it as Wouldn’t that be embarrassing?
You’re going to get hit.
Those words became the trigger that completely snapped Ri-en’s reason.
“You…! I’ll make you regret this!”
Her mana exploded outward. The flames and earthen spheres floating around her began swirling into a massive magical storm.
It was clearly a high-tier explosion spell. The amount of mana she was releasing was overwhelming enough to wipe out the entire plaza and then some.
‘…Not yet.’
I narrowed my eyes, carefully observing her state. She was completely fixated on destroying me. I could see her pouring every sense she had into controlling the vast mana condensing in her hands.
Exactly the moment the Archmage had described. The instant right before she finished constructing and casting the spell—her weakness where her mana detection dropped.
“I’ll teach you the difference in our ranks!!”
The exact instant Ri-en thrust both hands forward to unleash the spell at me, I stayed perfectly still. I simply shifted my eyes to stare at the space right beside her right ear.
The empty air directly next to her right ear.
Quake.
Quake — Air Burst
There was no chant. No visible flow of mana. The space itself simply screamed and twisted violently.
IIIIIIIIIING— BOOOOOOM!!
The explosion of sound erupted from the empty air right beside her.
An unexpected close-range vibration spell.
Ri-en’s eyes flew wide open as a scream tore from her throat.
“Kyaaaaaah—!!”
The spheres she had been about to fire lost their focus the moment her concentration broke and scattered into the air before vanishing. At the same time, everyone caught in the area of effect of Quake staggered violently.
She wobbled, trying to regain her balance. Her thigh-high boots tangled together.
Thud.
The next ruler of the Magic Tower, dressed in all her elegance and arrogance, fell flat on her ass in the most spectacular way.
The only shame was that I was the only one who saw it.
Everyone else was too busy stumbling from the effects of Quake. They probably had no idea what had just happened right in front of them.
Lee Chaeyeon, who had squeezed her eyes shut, slowly opened them again and stared at Ri-en sitting on the ground. Her expression was one of pure shock and disbelief.
She had no idea what method I had used. Yet with it, I had completely neutralized Ri-en, the successor of the Magic Tower.
“Ouch…!”
Ri-en sat on the ground, staring blankly at her own hands. Her crimson eyes shook violently with confusion.
She had no idea what she had even been hit by.
Her bewildered gaze slowly traveled upward until it met mine.
The moment our eyes locked, I spoke.
“See? I warned you.”
“You… what the hell did you….”
Shame and confusion. The fury had completely vanished from her eyes.
I glanced at the chat window, then let out one more long, mocking laugh in her direction. After that, I gave Lee Chaeyeon a small nod of appreciation for her hard work and turned away without a shred of regret.
“Wait…! Stop right there…!”
Ri-en’s desperate shout came from behind me, but I simply tossed out a casual remark.
“You’re the one who’s paying for all of this.”
Then I walked away without a care in the world.
It didn’t take long to reach home.
Beep, click.
The moment I opened the front door—
Tap-tap-tap-tap.
“Oppa!!”
Kim Soyeon burst out of the living room as if she had been waiting for me. Her face was filled with urgency and anxiety.
She rushed straight over, grabbing my arm and frantically checking me over from head to toe.
“Are you okay?! Are you hurt anywhere? Nothing happened, right?!”
There were even tears glistening in the corners of her eyes.
I wondered where she had heard about the incident at the Tower. She must have been terrified that I might have gotten caught up in the aftermath.
I set my bag down, placed a hand on her head, and spoke in a light, teasing tone.
“I’m fine. Nothing happened. Do I look like the kind of guy who gets into trouble?”
Only after hearing my voice and confirming my condition with her own eyes did she finally relax.
“Haa…”
Soyeon let out a deep sigh of relief, pressing a hand to her chest.
“Thank goodness… I was so worried…”
She pulled me into a tight hug, releasing all the tension she had been holding. But that relief only lasted a moment.
When she slowly lifted her head, her eyes had changed. They were no longer the round, gentle eyes she showed me. They had become the cold, sunken eyes of an S-class hunter.
And within them burned pure rage.
Staring into empty space, she muttered in a low, quiet voice.
“That woman…!”