Chapter 280
Chapter 280
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 280
Chapter Title: Humiliation
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All indications were pointing to it.
The Archmage had made his appearance.
A unique mage who wielded the attack spell 'Heaven's Punishment'.
He moved with extreme secrecy, ensuring no one noticed his presence.
And it was presumed that he was the one who even bankrupted Moon Lord Aheta...
He was right in front of them now.
In a strangely familiar form.
"Long time no see."
The man replied.
But Han Shin's expression refused to soften.
Because.
"You're... really the Archmage?"
It was a man he had seen before.
He was the mage who had driven him into a corner during the 'Second Night'.
He had dealt a blow that brought him to the brink of death, ultimately preventing him from devouring Kim Byung-han's doppelganger.
The one who had provided the decisive cause for him becoming a half-demon was standing right there before his eyes.
"I am the 'Archmage'."
The Archmage.
No, the Black Dragon Ataraxia said.
Thanks to the rift that had opened in the sky, Park Chan-woo had been able to escape this realm.
Afterward, he had handed over the Black Witch's index finger to Ataraxia.
Ataraxia had entered this place using the false qualification of a half-demon.
In Park Chan-woo's place, as the Archmage.
'I didn't expect him to still be alive.'
Ataraxia found it just as intriguing.
Clearly, during the 'Second Night', Han Shin had exhausted every last drop of his origin magic power.
A composite spell woven from the five attributes that Ataraxia himself had unleashed.
There had been no other way to survive it.
With his life force completely drained, death should have been the natural outcome.
Yet here he was, alive.
And that form of his—it was nothing short of astonishing.
"You must have consumed the doppelganger's core after burning through all your origin magic power. You've become a truly ambiguous existence, human yet not quite human."
He could tell at a glance.
Exactly what state Han Shin was in right now.
However, even he, who had lived for countless ages, had never seen a being like this before.
Eating a doppelganger's core didn't just turn someone into a half-demon.
There had never been such a case to begin with.
'Darkan would love this.'
A prime research subject.
Han Shin was the perfect experimental specimen for the likes of Darkan and the Sloth tribe.
But the ominous aura he sensed wasn't solely from the doppelganger's presence.
There was something more.
Something even more complex, utterly absurd, all tangled together.
...Just like that great one, Park Chan-woo.
"There's no way you're the Archmage. You... your magic is different from his."
Han Shin denied it.
He was undoubtedly an incredible mage, but he was worlds apart from the Archmage.
A comprehensive mage who commanded every elemental spell.
There was no way he could be the same as the Archmage, who left traces solely of Heaven's Punishment.
"Still so foolish."
Ataraxia sneered.
Acting on the will of that great one, he was meticulously playing the role of the 'Archmage'.
To sow confusion in Han Shin's mind.
And the ploy was working perfectly.
"You bankrupted Aheta?"
"Oh ho. So that thing on your shoulders isn't just decoration after all."
"Stealing my 'arrangement', constantly thwarting me, claiming the 'unique achievement' and driving me into a corner—all of that was you?"
Without the Archmage, his life would have been a straight path to glory.
He would have ascended to the pinnacle effortlessly and become humanity's savior.
But the Archmage had appeared, and everything had gone awry.
Especially if this Archmage standing before him had achieved the 'unique achievement'—it would be like thanking his mortal enemy.
...It wounded his pride.
Infuriating beyond measure.
"I have no obligation to answer. Though if you manage to defeat me, perhaps I will."
"......"
Han Shin's expression hardened once more, cold as ice.
Every circumstance screamed that this man was the Archmage.
Even though he had been defeated by him once before.
'It'll be different this time.'
He had acquired power incomparable to back then.
Power that likely surpassed any other human on present-day Earth.
The Archmage would have grown stronger as well, but his own rate of growth was beyond anyone's reach.
Level 75.
Even transferred to the hidden class 'Exterminator'.
And that was not all.
He had even transcended his 'exclusive equipment'.
All of this had transpired in less than two months.
He had contracted with the Demon King of Karmic Fire, devoured the cores of other half-demons in this land to grow stronger.
'Thanks to the Death Eye, I have grasped the truth.'
He had delved deeply into the nature of magic power and attained enlightenment.
If his opponent was a mage, defeat was impossible.
Then, abruptly, Ataraxia spoke.
"Fire, bloom like a full-blossomed flower."
"Earth, wail."
"Lightning, rage forth."
"Wind, converge."
"Arrow of despairing water, unleash it all."
...This bastard.
He had unleashed the exact five-attribute composite spell that had once driven him to the edge of death.
A declaration of his intent to toy with him utterly.
Proof that he was being thoroughly underestimated.
However.
'I can see it.'
Han Shin could see it clearly.
The total volume of magic power fueling the spell, its flow, the trajectory it would take, and even the outcome.
He had foreseen the future.
Thus.
'I've already won.'
There was no way he could lose this fight.
Hanmir.
She had climbed Hallasan and was in the midst of dealing with a half-demon.
Slash!
After cleaving apart the massive poison toad-like half-demon, she let out a sigh.
"Why am I even here...?"
Was she really going to heed Park Chan-woo's words?
It had been practically a kidnapping.
No, it was no different from one.
He had burst in out of nowhere during her training, waged war against the Heavenly Realm, and dragged her from the 'Land of Valhalla' to 'Earth'.
She had no say in any of it.
She had simply been hauled along.
Yet the reason she remained here anyway was singular.
'The Heavenly Realm is rotten.'
The Heavenly Realm that every Arhat yearned for.
She had glimpsed its true nature.
Moreover.
'The owner of the Pantheon... was a being forged by that rotten Heavenly Realm.'
There could be no greater disappointment.
Honestly speaking, it was the absolute worst.
Her dream of emulating the Pantheon's spirit and ascending once more in the Heavenly Realm had shattered in an instant.
And what of Kang Si-mun's vile conduct?
It wasn't just Kang Si-mun that was the problem.
'Everything has stagnated and rotted away.'
Even the famously impartial Mirmun—did they truly have no scandals?
They were somewhat better off, but if things continued like this, even the Mirmun that had accepted her would plummet.
So even though she had been shoved here as if kidnapped, she stayed put.
'To restore the mountain to normal, I need to grow stronger.'
Force overwhelming enough to dominate the immortals.
The one who had threatened even the Pantheon's owner, the lord of dragons as well.
Whether he was still the 'Dragon God Sepiro' remained uncertain, but if dragons followed him to that degree, there had to be a reason.
Hanmir sought to build her strength at his side.
Additionally.
"...Pandarian."
Park Chan-woo seemed to know the truth of her forgotten identity.
Pandarian. She already knew she was a survivor of that long-extinct race from the 'Jewel of Wisdom' embedded in her forehead, but she had no recollection of who she truly was.
She wanted to know.
She wanted to remember.
"Oh, there you are."
"......Chiwoo-nim."
As she shook the blood from her sword, Chiwoo approached.
He appeared to be around her age in many ways, but she had learned that Chiwoo was far older.
Thanks to all the stories they had shared in the Land of Valhalla.
The Ten Heavenly Kings, was it?
Park Chan-woo was originally the Heavenly Demon, the true lord of the mountain...
She still had trouble fully believing it.
"What's with the humans trailing behind?"
"Ah, they're out for a stroll with me."
"A stroll...?"
"Care to spar?"
"What sort of sudden nonsense is that?"
It was utterly out of the blue.
Yet Chiwoo's expression held no trace of jest.
"These two possess what you're lacking."
"......Are you saying I'm inferior to mere humans?"
"Everyone has their strengths. You're not perfect yourself, are you?"
"......"
With a look of utter disbelief, Hanmir glanced back at the two men following them.
Lee Hyuk-soo, and Han Min-oh.
Her gaze lingered particularly on Lee Hyuk-soo.
Han Min-oh was thoroughly disheveled, but Lee Hyuk-soo exuded profound calm.
A true master.
In every sense.
One would waver after crossing paths with Chiwoo, yet he maintained his composure.
"Ah, I heard the 'Fourth Night' begins tomorrow. It seems our lord will be joining as well."
"That lord? Hold on... Do you know who the current 'Night' administrator is?"
"Isn't it the Demon King of Karmic Fire?"
"...I heard there had been a change, but I didn't know who... And where did you hear that?"
"It's a secret."
Hanmir's expression grew rigid.
Leaving aside how Chiwoo knew, she was all too familiar with the 'Demon King of Karmic Fire'.
He was a natural predator to the Mirmun.
"......No matter how exalted that lord may be, the 'Demon King of Karmic Fire' is not one to be trifled with."
"Why?"
"The Demon King of Karmic Fire... is deeply tied to one of the 'Great Nine Lords'."
"Which one?"
"The Lord of Great Sins."
"......!"
The moment he heard the name, Chiwoo's face twisted in a frown.
The Lord of Great Sins was the most tyrannical among the Great Nine Lords.
The absolute one not to provoke out of all nine.
And he was intimately connected to the Demon King of Karmic Fire?
"Hold on. Sorry to butt in, but does that mean the 'Fourth Night's' host is the Demon King of Karmic Fire?"
Lee Hyuk-soo interjected, and Chiwoo merely shrugged.
"Ah, so the humans are still in the dark."
"Then you lot aren't human."
"We are Arhats."
"......Arhats?"
Arhat—a name familiar to both Lee Hyuk-soo and Han Min-oh.
Ascetics who perfected pure martial might.
The term had spread among humans, whether intentionally or not.
Chiwoo turned back to Hanmir and continued.
"His will is beyond our power to sway. More to the point, I'd like to offer these two a bit of aid."
"...Will it even help?"
"You'll see once you fight them."
Hanmir sighed.
She was a warrior of Mirmun.
One of the Arhats spoken of as the next heir, her skills duly recognized.
"Very well. Come at me both together."
Hanmir raised her sword.
Lee Hyuk-soo's eyes sharpened.
Arhats were slaying half-demons on Hallasan.
And now, under the guise of sparring, they offered aid to them.
To prepare for the Fourth Night.
'The one the Arhats follow will join the Fourth Night.'
Their interests aligned perfectly.
This was a golden opportunity.
Lee Hyuk-soo was currently at an impasse.
If he could shatter that wall through them...
He could minimize humanity's losses in the Fourth Night and secure top rankings.
"If I may, one exchange."
"...You bastard."
Grit!
Han Shin ground his teeth.
The current situation defied all understanding.
There was simply no way to comprehend it.
"Were you hiding your true power?"
The Archmage.
He had read his spells.
Seen the results, foreseen the future.
And yet.
...It kept growing stronger.
The magic power, the spell's nature, even its very hierarchy.
Endlessly ascending.
Wasn't that bizarre?
"You're the weak one."
Ataraxia declared.
......Impossible.
There was no way he could be weak.
This was the power he had seized by becoming a half-demon—by forsaking his humanity.
He was still growing, but no human should rival him.
In other words.
"You're no human."
I get it now.
The Archmage wasn't human.
Just masquerading as one in form—impossible otherwise.
"You'd prefer if I weren't, wouldn't you?"
"......"
"Never once considered that you might be the weak link?"
Ataraxia mocked, pointing out Han Shin's folly.
A man convinced of his own genius.
Still blind to the world's vastness.
"I'll ramp it up even further. I'm genuinely curious myself—how much can you withstand?"
And this wasn't even the limit?
Stronger still than all the growth he had achieved?
'Archmage......!!'
It was utter humiliation.
Far worse than his defeat in the Second Night.