Chapter 130
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 130
Chapter Title: Magic Genius with Korean Patch
Flash!
A black light burst from the bracelet Perna unleashed, dyeing everything around it.
But that didn't mean her vision was completely shrouded in darkness, making it impossible to discern anything.
'The background has turned black.'
The black light occupied a certain space, serving as a backdrop that tinted the surroundings.
Thanks to that, Perna—who was dressed entirely in black—along with her attendants, enjoyed an effect similar to camouflage.
And on top of that, they had donned black masks at some point and drawn swords dyed black as well.
"What is the meaning of this?"
Lena demanded of Perna at the sight.
But in response to Lena, Perna waved her hand dismissively, as if telling her not to worry.
"Oh, don't worry. I'm not trying to kill you right now."
"What did you say?"
"Killing leaves traces, doesn't it? Like I just said, I'm going to commit a perfect crime from here on out. This is... just a warning not to resist."
She gazed at Lena with leisurely eyes as she spoke.
At that, Lena pulled up her mana with all her might as well.
"My, that's quite impressive."
Though still young, Lena was a 4th Circle mage.
Perna was lightly surprised to see the considerable level of mana she was gathering.
"But I'm not here to show off power."
But such things meant nothing to Perna anyway.
"Guys who try to flex like that always end up crawling at my feet."
With those words, Perna began stepping toward Lena.
Jingle.
"...What was that sound?"
The moment Perna moved, a bell-like sound rang out.
"Hehe, first things first, the young lady."
Jingle, jingle.
As she approached Lena, the tinkling sound from her grew louder and louder.
"Stay back!"
Whoosh! In response, Lena immediately tried to cast her magic.
No, she tried to.
"Oh? Is that your magic?"
"...What the hell?"
Sizzle.
Lena had clearly intended to bloom Silver Flame buds.
But contrary to her will, the magic she cast merely produced a feeble flicker of silver flame in her palm that vanished moments later.
"Pretty pathetic compared to the buildup, huh?"
As if she had anticipated the situation, Perna smirked and charged straight at Lena.
Even in her confusion, Lena desperately tried to muster her mana to resist somehow.
'I can't use magic!'
It was as if noise was interfering with the process of casting.
Her magic wouldn't activate as she intended.
So she tried to enhance her physical abilities with mana and retreat.
"Fast, but I'm faster."
Even rotten, a chub is still a fish.
Perna's movements, having learned aura however clumsily, were much quicker.
By the time Lena had taken two or three steps back, Perna was already right in front of her nose.
For Lena, it was a desperate moment; for Perna, the perfect chance to seize the initiative in one go.
That's when the interloper, Jeon, stepped between them.
"I was wondering what this was about."
"What!?"
Perna, who had been lunging at Lena, twisted her body toward the suddenly appearing Jeon and swung her hand in panic.
And in Perna's hand was now a black dagger.
In the black background, it was hard to even tell she was holding a weapon.
Thwack.
But Jeon effortlessly grabbed her wrist as she swung the dagger.
"Th-this...!"
Caught off guard by his sudden appearance and her attack being blocked so easily, Perna panicked hard this time.
She tried to shake off the hand gripping her wrist, but no matter how hard she strained, it wouldn't budge from Jeon's grasp.
'He's definitely a mage!'
Before coming to this dinner, Perna had thoroughly investigated Jeon and his group.
She knew they had been part of the White Tower until just before arriving, and that even at their young age, they had remarkable magical achievements.
'There's no way he can use proper magic right now!'
Unless they were an archmage, a mage trained in mana couldn't surpass a knight trained in aura in physical prowess.
Even battle mages who fought up close relied on magic; their pure physical abilities were inevitably inferior to knights.
Yet Jeon wasn't even using magic, and he had superior strength to Perna, who was a knight.
"Is this all you prepared?"
On top of that, while she strained with all her might, Jeon looked completely relaxed, as if it took no effort.
"You insolent little brat!"
Grit.
Perna ground her teeth and thrashed her body in desperation.
Jingle, jingle, jingle!
Her accessories shook all at once, spreading a clear tinkling sound.
'So that's it... She's been handling things this way all along.'
Facing her up close, Jeon instantly figured out what power Perna was using and sneered inwardly.
"Try blocking this!"
In the meantime, Perna twisted her body around her captured arm and unleashed an aura-infused kick toward Jeon's face.
"Nothing I can't block."
Thud.
But Jeon casually raised his other hand and caught her ankle.
"Eek!?"
With one wrist and one ankle seized in an instant, her body flipped into a ridiculous shrimp-like pose, Perna strained desperately to escape.
"Where do you think you're going?"
But already firmly in Jeon's grip, she couldn't break free no matter how hard she tried.
"Th-this is ridiculous...!"
Her face hardened as the situation deviated far beyond expectations.
But she still had something to rely on.
Jingle, jingle!
Even with one arm and leg pinned, arching her back like a shrimp, she twisted her body to shake her accessories.
"Why the hell have you been jingling like that?"
Jeon muttered in confusion at her actions, then hoisted both her captured limbs high.
"Urk!?"
"If you want to shake that badly, let me shake you properly."
"What are you talking ab— Kyaa!?"
Shake shake shake!
Jingle! Jingle! Jingle!
Jeon mercilessly started shaking her in that position.
"Kyaaaaaaa!"
Shaken wildly up and down, she looked like she was jumping rope to anyone watching—absolutely getting thrashed.
"Th-that madman!"
At the sight, Perna's attendants abandoned their encirclement and lunged at Jeon all at once.
"Sorry, but this area's off-limits."
But their actions didn't yield the desired result.
A distortion field had formed around Jeon at some point, blocking their approach.
"What the hell is that barrier?"
"Aura can't even cut it!"
"No way! Is that guy some kind of archmage!?"
Even with over twenty knights charging together, the distortion field showed no sign of breaking.
And while they failed to breach it, Perna inside was turning into laundry spinning in a washing machine's spin cycle.
"Spare me, spare me! Please, just spare me!"
She started out just screaming, but as the world spun dizzily, nausea surged, and with her trained body unable to endure the relentless shaking, Perna finally begged Jeon for her life.
"Why? Didn't you want to shake like this?"
But Jeon continued shaking her with an impassive expression.
The jingling of her accessories now sounded like her soul escaping.
"I-I was wrong! Please spare m— Urp, urp!"
And when she finally couldn't hold back the vomit and clamped her remaining hand over her mouth,
"Alright, time to let go."
Crash!
Jeon flung her body to the floor.
"Aaaagh! Urp, urp!"
Perna screamed briefly from the pain of slamming down, then covered her mouth with both hands to suppress the rising vomit.
Jeon looked at her pitifully and slowly approached.
"Now, shall we talk?"
"Urk... urgh... Hah, hah, y-you, what the hell are you!?"
Having barely suppressed the vomit, she glared at Jeon while gasping for breath.
"What else? The guy who came to catch you."
"Wh-what?"
"Why act surprised? You came to catch me, didn't you?"
Perna was momentarily speechless at Jeon's words.
She had thought she was the hunter and he the prey, but now realized he was the hunter and she the prey.
"I-I can't believe it! I can't believe this!"
Jingle! Jingle!
Realizing it late, Perna shook violently in a fit.
"Ugh, shut up with that jingling already."
"Stay back! Stay away!"
Jingle! Jingle!
But ignoring Jeon, Perna shook desperately as if it were her only lifeline, inching backward.
Annoyed by the sight, Jeon scanned her from head to toe and muttered shortly.
Compression
(Rune Magic)
"...?"
After that short mutter, Perna realized no more sounds came from her accessories.
Not just that—the black background from her bracelet artifact had vanished entirely.
"Finally, some quiet."
Jeon nodded as if satisfied at last.
"H-how... My, my artifacts? My artifacts...?"
Perna patted the spots where her accessories had been, mumbling in a panic.
"Making a fuss over losing just that."
Jeon shook his head pityingly at her.
But he well knew why she was so shocked.
He had long since realized that from the bracelet onward, all her accessories were artifacts.
'A form of hypnosis, using it to disrupt mana or aura usage through confusion.'
Of course, it wouldn't work on anyone of a certain level.
Conversely, it was optimal against those below that level.
Even 4th Circle Lena couldn't cast properly.
'All her kidnappings must have gone down like this.'
Whether mage or knight, disrupt their full capabilities with those accessories, then subdue them.
Then repeatedly expose them to that sound for hypnosis.
'Probably made them come to her willingly or head to a designated spot.'
Thanks to those artifacts, she could abduct many without leaving traces.
"What... what... Who the hell are you? How can you do this...?"
Perna, having lost what was essentially her lifeline, stared blankly at Jeon and mumbled.
She looked utterly pathetic, like her mind had broken, but Jeon nodded approvingly instead.
"Not a pretty sight, but... it'll save me some effort."
Saying that, Jeon approached Perna and placed his hand on her head.
"Now, I'll give back exactly what you've done."
And from Jeon's hand on her head, a faint purple light began to seep out.