Chapter 90
Chapter 90
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: Ixion's Challenge
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A silence fell over the coliseum at Maejo's death.
It was true that the mages had underestimated Lee Si-woo until now.
But after the chaos of the Tail-Catching Mission, even they had begun to acknowledge his skill in the back of their minds.
However, none of them had imagined that he would utterly crush Maejo, a 3rd Circle Expert.
And that wasn't all.
To kill Maejo right in front of Allen, a judge and a powerful figure in the Magic Tower?
Setting aside his skill, his sheer audacity and ruthlessness were enough to inspire admiration.
Clap, clap, clap.
The mages, who had been holding their breath, flinched as Allen suddenly began to applaud.
They couldn't fathom why Allen was applauding Lee Si-woo, the man who had openly defied him.
Allen spoke with his usual calm expression.
“Excellent. A truly excellent display of skill, Lee Si-woo.”
Lee Si-woo responded to Allen's praise with a smile.
“Thank you for the undeserved praise.”
Allen spread his arms wide, turned to the audience, and said.
“Everyone, look. Yes, what happened to Maejo is unfortunate, but a true combat mission should have this kind of intensity. We cannot properly assess anyone's skill with formal duels that are more akin to sparring matches, like in past tournaments. In that sense, this incident is entirely my fault. I, who abolished the forfeit system, failed to restrain Lee Si-woo at the opportune moment.”
Having said that, Allen walked past Lee Si-woo with a gentle smile.
It was only a brief passing, but Lee Si-woo could see it.
Allen's face, where his lips were smiling, but his eyes remained cold.
“Therefore, I hope you will all approach this tournament with the mindset that this is real combat, a golden opportunity to test your limits. As proud mages of the Senior Magic Tower, do not shrink back in fear of the occasional accident! Do you understand?”
The mages responded to Allen's words with enthusiastic cheers.
Lee Si-woo was inwardly amazed at Allen's handling of the situation.
Normally, after such an unfortunate incident, the forfeit system should have been reinstated.
But instead of bringing back the forfeit system, Allen declared that proceeding with the tournament like this, as Lee Si-woo had, was the proper way.
He would rather condone the tournament becoming more violent than see it become safer.
‘Allen, are you afraid I'll forfeit when I face Ixion? But what can you do? Unfortunately for you, the outcome of this tournament will be completely different from what you desire.’
Without giving Lee Si-woo a single glance, Allen returned to the judges' seats and spoke.
“Round 1, Group 2! 3rd Circle Beginner Kamwien, 3rd Circle Expert Swen. Step forward!”
As the next match was about to begin, Lee Si-woo spread his wind wings and returned to the spectator seats.
Allen, who had been watching him blankly, spoke to his secretary in a low voice.
“Relay this to Ixion. Tell him to break his limbs, gouge out his eyes, and cut out his tongue. The match will continue, so he needn't worry. Tell him to kill Lee Si-woo as painfully as possible. And if he does… I'll give him two Ascension Pills on top of the prize.”
Seeing his ice-cold face, the secretary cautiously replied.
“Yes, I will relay the message.”
Allen crossed his legs and rested his clasped hands on his knee.
The bulging blue veins on the back of his hands, so tightly clenched, were enough to show how furious Allen was.
“It's been a long time. This… fucking feeling.”
Allen's gaze fell upon Lee Si-woo, who was chatting with Yahalong in the opposite spectator seats.
* * *
The tournament proceeded quickly in an overheated atmosphere.
Perhaps wanting to avoid a repeat of the first match's incident, Allen would stop the duels as soon as a winner was clear.
As the first round was drawing to a close, the main event that all the mages had been waiting for began.
“The final group of Round 1! 3rd Circle Master Ixion, 3rd Circle Expert Hasen. Step forward!”
As Ixion stepped into the arena, Yahalong, rubbing the bruised face that was proud proof of his first-round defeat, spoke.
“Ixion's finally up.”
“A 3rd Circle Expert... a bit disappointing for Ixion's opponent. I was hoping for a Master.”
“I know. It'd be easier for you if his opponent wore him out a little.”
“Exactly.”
As soon as Lee Si-woo finished speaking, the battle began.
It started with a light skirmish.
Wielding a guandao-type magic weapon drawn from his inventory ring, Ixion pressed Hasen, using the unique mobility of a centaur.
Hasen cast a spell at Ixion, who was taunting him with movements that weaved from left to right.
[3rd Circle Elemental Magic: Pillar of Fire]
As the instant-cast Pillar of Fire was invoked, a column of red flame erupted from beneath Ixion's position.
With a scornful smirk, Ixion swung his guandao.
Caught in the silver arc, the pillar of fire split in two and vanished futilely.
Seeing Ixion effortlessly nullify the pillar of fire, Lee Si-woo's eyes flashed.
‘A Breaker? I thought only 4th Circle mages could use that.’
Harman, who resided in a corner of Lee Si-woo's mind, spoke.
-It is indeed a Breaker, but it's not Ixion's innate ability. It's the power of a Grade 9 magic weapon called Spell Breaker.
‘Grade 9? Huh, so you're saying it's a Graded Magic Weapon, something the Universal Market only bestows upon high-quality magic weapons?’
-Yes. That was likely one of the driving forces behind Ixion becoming a Ranker. The magic weapon's options should be on the Universal Market app, so you should check it.
At Harman's words, Lee Si-woo opened the Universal Market app and searched for Spell Breaker.
「Spell Breaker」
Type: Magic Weapon
Grade: 9 (九)
Form: Guandao
Option: Magic Attack Power x1.3 Amplification
Special Option: Chance to break 2nd ~ 4th Circle magic. (2nd Circle 100%, 3rd Circle 50%, 4th Circle 5%)
Best Review: I thought this would make me invincible against 2nd Circle mages, so I ambushed a party of 7 and got wrecked. Turns out the Breaker doesn't activate automatically; you have to strike the magic precisely with the guandao to meet the activation condition. It's harder to handle than you'd think, so consider carefully before buying.
‘…It even has reviews?’
-It's the Universal Market, after all. You can find many interesting reviews if you look around.
‘Hmm, a probability-based activation is quite risky... but you can just block with a mana shield if needed. It's a pretty good special option. And a 1.3x magic attack amplification... Huh, this thing is a real gem.’
-Indeed. So you could say the match is already decided.
Just as Harman said, Ixion wasn't just overwhelming Hasen; he was toying with him.
He nullified every spell Hasen cast with the Spell Breaker, and when the Breaker didn't activate, he defended with a mana shield based on his formidable mana.
The frightening part was that he hadn't cast a single spell himself.
‘He's only defending.’
-He's trying to show his prowess to you, Lord. He probably wants to demonstrate the difference in your levels.
‘I don't know about that. I don't think a Breaker is enough to show a difference in level. Frankly, you can do that too, can't you, Harman?’
-The probability is about 10 percent lower than the Spell Breaker, and I wouldn't dare try to nullify 4th Circle magic... but yes. I can use it without a magic weapon like that.
While Lee Si-woo and Harman analyzed Ixion, the match gradually neared its end.
Hasen, who had been repeatedly casting spells only to have them blocked by Ixion, finally stopped, exhausted. At that moment, Ixion focused his mana into the guandao.
Vwooom.
Ixion's Spell Breaker trembled with a faint hum, and a feathered serpent with translucent wind feathers appeared above it, fluttering.
Seeing the feathered serpent, Harman was startled.
-That's... a Named Magic?!
[3rd Circle Elemental Magic: Claw of Quetzalcoatl]
The feathered serpent roared along the silver blade of the Spell Breaker.
With a cry that seemed to tear the atmosphere, a claw of wind shot out from the guandao's silver blade and ripped through the ground.
Kagagagak!
With a horrifying roar like shackles digging into hard rock, a scar, as if a giant beast had clawed the ground, was left on the arena floor.
Hasen sat collapsed between the gouged-out sections of earth, his jaw trembling.
Hasen swallowed dryly, thinking that if the claw had hit him directly, his mana shield and his body would have been torn to shreds.
Seeing this, Elder Allen judged Hasen incapable of combat and declared the end of the match.
“Stop! That's enough! Ixion wins!”
Watching Ixion receive the declaration of victory after easily overwhelming Hasen, Lee Si-woo spoke to Harman.
‘Named Magic and a Grade 9 magic weapon. Just as you'd expect from a Ranker, he has all the good stuff. Hmm... what class of magic would you say that is?’
Among some schools of magic, there are spells so renowned for their incredible power that mages call them Named Magic and covet them.
These Named Magics are classified by their fame and power, commonly divided into Regional-Class > Tower-Class > Continental-Class > World-Class.
-There's no way a mere 3rd Circle Ranker would have learned a magic that represents the Magic Tower, so it must be Regional-Class. Its power alone is far too lacking to be considered Tower-Class.
‘Regional-Class Named Magic... can I handle it?’
-You must avoid a direct confrontation at all costs. The power of a Regional-Class magic is too great for you, Lord, who is still only at the 2nd Circle. In fact, as things stand... you have no chance of winning.
Lee Si-woo fell into thought at Harman's negative yet realistic answer.
Meanwhile, instead of returning to the spectator seats, Ixion asked Allen a question.
“Elder, if it's not too much trouble, would it be alright to proceed directly to the second round right now?”
As Ixion expressed his desire to fight Lee Si-woo immediately, Allen replied with a slightly sullen face.
“Even if your opponent was so beneath you that it wasn't even a warm-up, isn't it always best to maintain peak condition when facing a match?”
“For me, this is perfect. I've broken a light sweat, as if I've just been for a light run.”
“Hmm, well, I suppose it doesn't matter. If Lee Si-woo agrees, we can proceed to the second round immediately.”
Having received Allen's permission, Ixion strode over to Lee Si-woo's spectator seats.
Ixion beckoned with his index finger at Lee Si-woo, who was looking down at him.
However, Ixion's expression quickly turned to one of bewilderment.
Lee Si-woo's response to his provocative gesture was utterly absurd.
“Can I go to the bathroom first?”
The bathroom, at a crucial moment like this?
This guy has a knack for killing the mood, Ixion grumbled inwardly before speaking.
“…Go. I have no desire to see you make a mess in the arena.”
“Thank you. And don't worry. I'm not trying to run away.”
“If you're scared, you can run. Everyone only has one life.”
Shrugging nonchalantly, Lee Si-woo left the spectator seats and headed for the bathroom.
Sitting on the toilet, Lee Si-woo, instead of relieving himself, took out a mysterious object wrapped in cloth from his inventory ring.
A faint, ominous, metallic scent emanated from the cloth, which was wrapped around a brown mane.
‘Harman is a seasoned veteran; his judgment must be accurate. So, it's impossible for me to defeat Ixion with my current skills.’
Gripping the cloth with both hands, Lee Si-woo closed his eyes and operated the Hexagram.
The proud flow of mana circulated through the six magic roots situated at the vertices of the hexagram.
The mana, having passed through each magic root in turn, finally reached the last one: the Forbidden Root.
Then, a yellow eye appeared in his mind's eye.
It was the same eye that had given him the Hexagram in the ruins.
At the same time, Lee Si-woo opened his eyes.
His pupils, once jet black, slowly took on the color of the full moon.
Having finished the 'ritual' and completed his preparations, Lee Si-woo left the bathroom.
‘However, the one who dies here today will be Ixion.’