Chapter 102
Chapter 102
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 102
Chapter Title: 40th Floor (1)
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At first, I planned to head down alone.
The final boss fight on each floor was always a grueling challenge, even for me.
I might not have the spare capacity to protect anyone else.
But I quickly changed my mind.
I turned around and looked at Sharon.
“Shall we go together?”
“Huh?”
“Every miracle needs a witness.”
I said with a slight smile.
Today’s opponent was probably the black mage from the latter half of the 30th floor—the shadowy figure behind it all.
Since this would be my first mage-versus-mage battle, I wanted to record it for posterity.
It’d also give me one more piece of content to post in the Mage Gallery.
“Sharon, watch everything that happens today with your own two eyes and spread the word far and wide.”
“Yes! I’ll commit every action of yours to memory, Wise One!”
At my words, Sharon nodded with a resolute expression.
I handed my phone to Sharon.
“Use this to film me.”
“Pardon? You want me to point this at you from above, Wise One? How could I dare do such a thing?”
“Yeah?”
What was she talking about?
Obviously, I meant record a video.
Was Sharon’s head a bit slow?
Oh, right. The word “film” or “shoot” probably didn’t have the meaning of taking photos or videos yet.
Not in a world without either.
I received the fresh shock and explained photos and videos to Sharon.
“This is what ‘filming’ means.”
“As expected... so that’s the meaning of ‘filming’... Truly, Wise One, your wisdom knows no bounds!”
“Hmm...”
Somehow, I felt like someone spreading the concept of “delicious” in another world.
I scratched my cheek, feeling awkward.
Sharon carefully picked up the phone with both hands.
Now that the cameraman was ready, there was no need to drag things out any longer.
We stepped together into the darkness.
An endless spiral staircase.
With every step, the air grew noticeably colder.
A chill that raised goosebumps on my skin.
The surroundings were in perfect silence. Only our footsteps echoed strangely.
“We’ve been descending for a while now...”
My sense of time had dulled.
I couldn’t tell if it had been ten minutes or an hour.
Sharon swallowed dryly, tense, sticking close behind me.
How much further did we go?
Finally, we reached the end of the stairs.
Before us stretched a massive cave.
The ceiling was so high it was invisible, and all around was shrouded in impenetrable darkness.
And in the center of that vast space.
“This...”
I held my breath.
There, embedded in the ground, were the ruins of a massive tower.
The same black tower ruins I’d seen on the 20th floor—and the ones standing on Earth.
The source that had corrupted the World Tree.
It was here too.
But that wasn’t the only problem.
“...That’s a gate, isn’t it?”
The gate that appears where the tower crumbles.
Gates periodically spit out monsters.
This was my first time seeing one for real.
“Ugh, my head...”
Staring at the gate brought on an inexplicable headache.
The gate glowed with an eerie purple light, contracting and expanding repeatedly.
Dizzy, I closed my eyes for a moment, then opened them.
And in that next instant.
“!”
There was a figure standing before the gate.
Cloaked entirely in black shadows.
Anyone could tell it was a black mage.
The black mage extended a skeletal arm.
[You’ve finally arrived, mage from another world.]
A dry, cracked, unpleasant voice.
The black mage stared straight at me as it spoke.
[Mage, abandon this place. It will become my domain.]
“Why would this be your domain?”
It was absurd.
This was a place I’d already marked as mine long before this guy showed up.
But it ignored my protest entirely.
[Even if we fight, your chances of beating me are zero.]
“Pretty confident, huh.”
[I am a 9-circle black mage who has touched the truth. I am leagues beyond you.]
“...What’s a circle?”
[You don’t even know? As expected, the magic system of this world is primitive.]
[It means I have mastered nine spells. You half-baked mage.]
I mulled over its words.
By its classification, were levels equivalent to circles?
How many spells did I know right now?
[I’ve been watching you closely. You know about six spells. Sand bullets, sand blades, sand barriers, sandsation, illusion magic... and finally, that massive summon of yours.]
‘What? It’s counting wrong?’
I thought to myself.
Sand bullets and blades weren’t even my skills, and it seemed completely unaware of my clones and Insight.
I secretly prepared my Ultra.
If things went well, I could end it in one shot.
[From what I see, you’re barely at 6-circle level. And a half-baked one who doesn’t even grasp the concept. How do you plan to bridge that gap?]
Its voice brimmed with confidence.
[Moreover, I’ve watched you and prepared counters for every one of your spells. You absolutely cannot win against me. Give up and leave.]
It declared smugly.
Then, as if reading my thoughts, it added a warning.
[Oh, and it’d be best not to summon that giant worm.]
It pointed upward with its bony finger.
[This cave isn’t very sturdy. The moment you summon that worm, we’ll all be buried alive together. Of course, I have countermeasures, so I’ll be fine.]
“Oh, really?”
The ceiling collapses?
So what?
Did it think something like that would scare me?
I was an earth mage. No way I’d die buried in dirt.
It was as ridiculous as a water mage drowning.
Without hesitation, I called my strongest summon.
“Sandworm.”
Rumble rumble roooar—!
The moment my command dropped, the ground flipped entirely.
Solid bedrock crumbled like tofu as the massive sandworm’s maw surged upward.
I couldn’t see its face, but I could tell it was extremely shocked.
[What kind of barbaric bastard are you...? And you call yourself a mage?]
Before its curse could finish.
The sandworm swallowed the black mage and the surrounding space in one gulp.
[You’re fine with us all dying together?]
The black mage’s shocked scream echoed from inside the sandworm’s belly.
It hadn’t expected me to execute without a moment’s hesitation.
I was about to order the sandworm to grind everything in its gut to dust.
That’s when it happened.
[Open, Gates of the Underworld.]
The black mage chanted a spell.
In that instant, a powerful shockwave erupted from inside the sandworm, radiating outward.
KABOOOM!
An invisible force swept everything away.
The first to react was the sandworm that had swallowed it.
The sandworm’s body grew hazy and was forcibly unsummoned.
[The sandworm’s summon has been released.]
[Re-summoning impossible for 24 hours.]
But that wasn’t the end.
The shockwave pierced through the sandworm’s body and spread everywhere.
The Ultra, hidden in mirage stealth to target the black mage’s back, was revealed.
“...!!!”
The Ultra took the shockwave head-on.
Its sandy body crumbled in heaps, then struggled to reform.
One extra life, granted by the spirit’s essence, gone in a flash.
It was clearly out of commission for a while.
The shockwave’s aftermath reached me too.
A sand barrier automatically formed but shattered while blocking it.
[You brute. You forced me to waste a precious spell...]
Fortunately, the black mage couldn’t chain that powerful magic.
I could see it panting, barely steadying itself.
“Tricky...”
For the first time, I felt a chill run down my spine.
A sense of crisis.
If the old man who shaved magic was freakishly strong beyond specs, this guy had a different kind of annoyance.
My first enemy with personality and intelligence.
Just in case, I moved my hand to the belt at my waist.
Ready to activate the time-rewind spell if needed.
At the same time, I pushed Insight to its limits.
The flow of all mana in the world etched clearly in my mind.
[Now feel in your bones how foolish it is to fight a prepared mage.]
The black mage sneered and cast its second spell.
Black mist rose from its feet, swiftly engulfing the entire cave.
It wasn’t mere visual obstruction.
“...!”
The moment the mist touched the ground, I felt my connection to the earth sever.
Complete loss of control over the surrounding soil and sand.
“You did your homework well...”
It had gotten me good.
One spell sealing nearly half my abilities.
I poured mana to wrestle back control of the ground.
But it wasn’t enough.
I was outmatched in proficiency and magical understanding.
[Give up. This land is already mine.]
The black mage’s jeer echoed through the mist.
Instead of continuing the tug-of-war, I chose another path.
Sand generated directly from my body.
That, at least, it couldn’t steal.
I concentrated all my holy power into the tip of my left index finger.
A golden-glowing sand bullet.
Without hesitation, I fired it toward the direction of its voice.
Whoosh—!
But it was already prepared.
Just before my bullet hit, its form dissolved into black mist and deflected the attack effortlessly.
[You think such primitive attacks will work?]
Its turn again.
This time, something invisible flew at me.
Insight revealed the mana flow.
A curse.
I fired another holy sand bullet without hesitation, intercepting the incoming curse.
The two spells collided in midair and canceled each other.
But in that moment, I felt a shiver down my spine.
“A feint?”
While I was distracted by the midair curse, its real attack activated.
BOOM—!
An explosion erupted from the mist on the ground.
No time to dodge.
As the black explosion enveloped me.
The World Tree leaf pendant around my neck emitted a brilliant green light.
The pendant that saved me before.
The light formed a soft barrier, perfectly blocking the curse’s explosion.
“Enemies who think ahead are definitely a pain.”
Sandworm sealed, Ultra neutralized.
My attacks were being countered one by one.
Unlike previous fights, this required mind games and outmaneuvering.
I gritted my teeth.
Time to use my brain again after so long.
Brute force like before wouldn’t work.
“Fine, let’s see what you’ve got.”
I summoned sand again at the tip of my left index finger.
Then I unleashed a barrage like a machine gun.
Rat-tat-tat-tat—!
Ordinary sand bullets mixed cunningly with golden holy ones.
The black mage responded to my attacks with leisure.
It must have some way to distinguish between the two.
It easily blocked normal sand bullets with a shield of black mist.
But the holy bullets were different.
Whenever a holy sand attack came, it chose evasion over defense.
Dissolving into mist to dodge.
[Pointless. Such monotonous attacks won’t...]
It mocked me.
But I didn’t stop.
I kept firing, and firing again.
As expected, no real effect.
It kept turning to mist and evading.
I took it all in with my eyes.
I could see it.
Its magic, its principles.
But still not enough.
I needed more experience.
I exhausted the sand from one index finger’s worth.
I turned my ring finger to sand.
And fired another barrage.
Thumb, middle, ring.
Until my entire left arm turned to sand and vanished, I relentlessly poured bullets.
But the result was disastrous.
Even after consuming my whole left arm, I hadn’t landed a single effective hit.
Its defense was flawless.
[Pathetic thrashing. Now I’ll end you, mage.]
The black mage spoke in a mocking tone.
Once my attacks fully ceased, it switched back to offense.
[Grasp of Death.]
The black mist writhed, transforming into dozens of shadow blades that assailed me from all sides.
At the same time, a swamp of curses rose from the floor, grabbing my ankles.
No place to escape.
I used my remaining right arm to form a sand barrier, but it couldn’t block everything.
“Argh...!”
A shadow blade I couldn’t block sliced my leg.
With a scream, I collapsed to the ground.
Left arm consumed, right leg severed.
Utterly battered.
The black mage approached me slowly.
It picked up my severed leg from the ground and sneered.
[I told you, didn’t I? This is the difference between you and me.]
“Give it back... my leg...”
[Of course. After you die.]
[Your body will serve me well. Mage corpses are hard to come by.]
I crawled on the ground, letting out pained groans.
A satisfied smile crept across the black mage’s face at the sight.
Convinced of its victory.
Of course it was.
It looked utterly hopeless to anyone.
I spoke to the black mage.
“...Actually, on second thought, you don’t have to give it back.”
[...?]
“Sharon, you’re filming this well, right? Keep watching. The highlight starts now.”
Right then, the leg it was holding exploded.