Chapter 21
Chapter 21
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: President's Harsh Lesson (3)
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As soon as I finished chanting, my Meteor began plummeting at breakneck speed.
The people nearby erupted into chaos and started fleeing in panic.
"Cr... crazy... they're both insane! Using Meteor here means everyone dies?!"
"Run! Fuck, we're all dead!"
"S-send rescue requests to the Magic Tower and nearby guilds!"
"Already sent! Get the hell out before they arrive!"
Meteor was an SS-grade skill, and its area of effect was enormous.
What if two Meteors collided? Everyone in the vicinity would likely get swept up in the debris and obliterated. Of course, I knew that full well. But I still pulled off this reckless stunt because I had a countermeasure in place.
This was the conversation I'd had with Seol Euna before the duel with President Baek Juseok.
What I'd handed her was [S] Tear of Michael.
The reason Tear of Michael was S-grade, despite its short effect duration, was its insane capacity. In simple terms, it acted like a massive dam pooling mana from dozens of mages. And I could suck it all up with Absorb and use it.
-Kwaaang!
Baek Juseok's Meteor collided with mine.
-Piiing!
A brilliant light flared, and just as the meteorites were about to explode and scatter everywhere, I shouted.
"Seol Euna! Hand over Tear of Michael! Have your guild members deploy defensive magic to block the explosion!"
"O-okay...!"
I swiftly took the Tear of Michael and placed my hand on it, murmuring.
"Absorb."
In that instant, the mana gathered over an hour from dozens of high-ranking guild mages surged into my body.
"Gaaahhh...!"
The influx of massive mana from outside wracked my body with numbing pain, even for me.
'This should be enough.'
I chanted toward the falling meteorites.
The reason I'd needed such vast mana was all for this one spell.
-Kugugugugugwang!
Even after the initial clash, the meteorite fragments plummeted with insane momentum—but then they all began floating into the air.
"F-fuck..."
To lift falling meteorites back into the sky, I'd have to defy their weight, gravity, and acceleration, which guzzled mana like crazy.
That's why I'd fired my own Meteor: to crash into Baek Juseok's and slow its acceleration.
Of course, I'd canceled mine the moment they collided.
The shattered remnants had lost much of their speed, but it still consumed an absurd amount of mana.
"Huu... Absorb..."
-Whoooong!
Replenishing from the Tear of Michael, I ramped up Reverse Gravity's intensity even further.
"Gaaaaahhh!"
All the meteorite fragments floated into the air.
Of course, even I couldn't fling that massive bulk into space. This was just to stop them from hitting the ground.
With Absorb continuously supplying mana, I cast another spell toward the drifting fragments.
-Clang!
'Fuck...'
It had sucked in more mana than stored, shattering the Tear of Michael. But fortunately, the spell had already activated.
-Woooooong!
A black sphere spun rapidly, absorbing all the surrounding meteorite fragments.
-Paang!
Moments later, Baek Juseok's Meteor vanished completely, leaving not a single trace. The people who'd been fleeing in terror stared blankly at the sky.
"M-Meteor... disintegrated...?"
"W-we... we survived! Fuck, we lived!"
"Hic... I really thought we were goners..."
-Thud.
I suddenly felt dizzy and collapsed to the ground.
'Fuck, I know I need rest...'
But obviously, I couldn't rest now. That psycho Baek Juseok was going berserk.
"G... grraaaaaahhh!"
No matter how top-tier A-grade mage he was, Baek Juseok had cast Meteor—one of the most taxing SS-grade spells. His body couldn't possibly emerge unscathed.
Baek Juseok's entire body began oozing demonic energy.
'Shit. The corruption's starting.'
Humans dominated by demonic energy enter a [Berserk] state. In it, they can unleash spells without chants, burning their life force instead of mana, with devastating power.
'This is a pain.'
Baek Juseok had probably been corrupted by the dark artifact he'd used.
'No wonder it's forbidden. And he used something way beyond his level—it's only natural it'd turn out like this.'
From my prone position, I chanted. Right before he fully entered Berserk was the perfect opening.
"Hellfire."
'Fuck. We're screwed.'
I slammed my hand to the ground and used Absorb, then chanted again.
"Hellfire!"
After spamming S- and SSS-grade spells, my internal mana was nearly depleted. Absorbing what little ambient mana from the ground wasn't enough to fuel Hellfire.
'That psycho Baek Juseok is a real bastard.'
Honestly, I'd suspected he might pull something crazy, but I never imagined he'd go this far off the rails. I figured he'd use the dark artifact in moderation, but no—he burned his life force until he lost his mind and topped it off with Meteor.
'That fucker's staking his life on this. Not thinking about the fallout at all.'
Pulling shit like this, no amount of connections would save him. Trying to nuke everyone with Meteor wasn't enough; he had to abuse forbidden dark artifacts too. Death penalty might be off the table, but he'd face severe punishment.
But now wasn't the time to worry about that.
-Whiiiiiing!
Baek Juseok, trailing purple demonic energy, let out a chilling laugh.
"Ah... such overflowing power... It feels like I've become a sage myself..."
"I think I understand why our ancestors craved dark artifacts so much."
Then, he looked at me and sneered.
"From the looks of it, you can't even cast proper spells anymore, Masked Instructor. The reason you're dying is because you got cocky and overstepped without knowing your place. Disgusting worm. I'll show you exactly what happens when you mock me."
"Hellfire."
As Baek Juseok chanted, a massive fireball—nothing like before—hurtled toward me.
"Magic Shield."
In this state, dodging direct hits was all I could manage.
I dumped every last drop of mana into Magic Shield to weather the attack, planning a counterstrike. But then—
-Whoosh!
Seol Euna leaped in front of me.
I yelled at her.
"What the hell are you doing?! Get out of the way now!"
But Seol Euna stood firm, unmoving.
I shouted again.
"Move, damn it! You'll die!"
Yet Seol Euna just smiled and said.
"This repays the debt from Black Gate."
Baek Juseok's enhanced [S] Hellfire, fueled by his life force.
No matter how strong Seol Euna was, fully blocking it was impossible.
She knew it too—she'd raised a barrier, but now she just closed her eyes, awaiting her fate.
-Crack!
'I didn't want to use this because the risk is too high.'
In that moment, pure mana surged violently from my body.
"Baek Juseok. You're really fucked now, you bastard."