Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Magic Genius with Korean Patch 48
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Staring at Jeon approaching alongside Silver, who was wreathed in flames, Zarka's eyes shook violently.
"Am I... actually scared right now?"
It had been the same when he'd blown away half of their hideout.
And now, when he'd burned every last goblin under his command in Quetta Village.
The level of that human mage over there clearly surpassed Zarka's expectations.
"Could I even do the same things he's done?"
He wasn't confident.
Honestly, with his current skill, it was damn near impossible.
"No, knowing big spells doesn't mean you're actually strong!"
But Zarka couldn't just accept that fact so easily.
He was a goblin chosen by the gods.
A great being destined to stand at the pinnacle of goblins, incomparable to some pathetic human mage!
"Kieek!"
With that, Zarka screamed like a cornered beast and shoved the hobgoblins around him forward.
It looked like he was using them as a shield to prepare some spell.
"Hm?"
Black mana flowed from Zarka's staff like mist, enveloping the hobgoblins.
Then, as Zarka muttered something under his breath, the black mana was sucked into the hobgoblins in an instant.
"...Kieeeek!"
"Kieeeeeek!"
The hobgoblins' bodies swelled even larger upon absorbing the black mana, and red glows flashed in their eyes.
"Berserk or something like that?"
The now even fiercer hobgoblins charged straight at Jeon.
But Jeon had a reliable ally at his side too.
-Where do these punks think they're going?
Silver, cloaked in silver flames, blocked the hobgoblins' path.
But with their eyes glazed over in madness, the hobgoblins charged at Silver indiscriminately.
Whoosh!
Every time Silver swung its claws, silver flames surged forth, incinerating the hobgoblins.
Yet they seemed to feel no pain as they lunged at Silver like maniacs, grabbing and clinging to its legs.
"Kieek!"
Seizing that opening, Zarka rushed toward Jeon and unleashed his magic.
"Was this what he was aiming for?"
Jeon had wondered why he'd even bothered berserking them just to have them cling to Silver—it was all to create this one moment's gap.
Whoosh!
Zarka swung his staff as he charged, and black mana poured out, transforming into blades that flew at Jeon.
"Truly bizarre magic."
It had been strange from the first time he'd seen it, but Zarka's magic was genuinely peculiar.
The black mana would form shapes and harden, then turn liquid-like—it was a unique style, different from modern magic or Rune Magic that Jeon knew.
But Jeon was already prepared to counter.
As Zarka's black blades whirled in, three silver flame fox tails burst from Elderlake, clashing against them.
The blades seemed stronger in raw power at first, but the three tails whipped around like they had minds of their own, blocking the onslaught.
"Even judging by power alone, it's stronger than your average 3rd Circle spell."
What Jeon had cast was Silvermont's 3rd Circle secret magic, Silver Flame's Tails, enhanced with the Will rune to grant it intent.
Without the Will rune making it whirl and block, the black blades might have broken through—Zarka's magic was on a high level.
"Kieek!"
Regardless of Jeon's assessment, Zarka flew into a rage at his attack being blocked and slammed the tip of his staff into the ground.
Black mana spread along the earth in an instant, then erupted as a massive wave that upheaved the ground.
Rumble rumble rumble! Chunks of earth flipped up by the black mana shattered into debris and shot toward Jeon.
But by then, Silver had already finished off all the hobgoblins.
-Not on my watch!
Silver intercepted, easily blocking the debris.
"Kieeeek! Kieeek!"
Furious at that, Zarka shifted his gaze to the hobgoblin corpses Silver had taken down.
Thud!
He struck the ground with his staff again, and black mana extended, getting sucked into the hobgoblin bodies.
"...What the hell?"
But the mana that had been absorbed soon poured back out from the corpses and returned to Zarka.
Though when it returned, the black mana was noticeably darker and denser.
"Kiek!"
The thickened black mana clung to Zarka's entire body, forming a sturdy armor around him.
"Draining energy from the dead or something?"
Jeon didn't know the exact mechanism, but it sure looked ominous.
Despite the creepiness, the performance seemed solid—Zarka charged at Jeon like a knight in full plate.
"Kieek!"
He swung his staff wildly at Jeon, but Silver blocked it effortlessly.
But that wasn't the end.
Vmmm!
Black mana burst from the staff touching Silver, flowing past it toward Jeon.
-This guy's—!
Silver moved quickly to block, but Zarka clung to it this time, hindering its movements.
"It's fine."
Jeon held Silver back and countered Zarka's magic with his own.
Dozens of harpoon-shaped black mana projectiles poured out, but Jeon blocked them with six Silver Flame's Tails—three from Elderlake and three from his other hand.
"Kieek!"
Zarka seemed to have anticipated the block; he brawled with Silver in his armored body while continuously spraying black mana at Jeon.
Blades, spears, black flames, black storms, black waves, and more.
The black mana shifted into various forms, relentlessly assaulting Jeon.
"Let's see you try this."
But Jeon didn't yield.
He pushed his mana circulation technique to the limit through both arms, countering Zarka's barrage.
With Elderlake constantly supplied mana, it unleashed different spells each time.
Jeon's other hand kept casting and firing spells nonstop.
Magic poured from Jeon at a speed like two mages casting in tandem.
Some spells lacked Zarka's power, but it didn't matter.
"If power falls short, overwhelm with numbers."
Jeon was embodying "quantity over quality" right before their eyes.
With endless mana supply, Jeon's already fast casting speed, plus Elderlake, his output soon surpassed Zarka's.
"Ki, kiek!?"
As the tide turned, Zarka—who had been on the offensive—found himself on the defensive.
No matter how tough his armor was, it couldn't indefinitely withstand Silver's silver flames and the magic barrage.
"Kieeeek!"
Finally, cracks spread across the black armor until it shattered completely, forcing Zarka to roll on the ground to dodge the incoming spells.
"Kiek... kiek... kieeeek!"
Panting heavily from exhaustion, he wildly swung his staff to counter Jeon's relentless magic.
But while Jeon could keep circulating his mana technique mid-fight, Zarka's mana was running dry.
"This... can't be happening!"
Realizing he was growing more disadvantaged, Zarka gritted his teeth.
His pride wouldn't let him accept defeat like this.
"Kruuuuueeek!"
With an ear-splitting roar, he slammed his staff into the ground with all his might.
"Ugh, what now?"
Jeon's trance-like spellcasting faltered momentarily—the roar was laced with dense mana.
In that gap, Zarka's mana surged from the embedded staff, rapidly spreading outward.
"What're you planning?"
Whatever it was, it screamed last-ditch effort, so Jeon resumed casting and fired spells at him.
Boom! Crackle!
Fire and lightning spells struck his body, but Zarka showed no reaction.
"Mana barrier?"
It seemed pulling all his mana outward created a flow that mitigated the spells' power.
Meanwhile, the spread mana gathered back to Zarka, now far denser and darker.
Jeon realized it was drawing from the goblin corpses littering the area.
"Kieeeek!"
Immense mana converged, black glows erupting from Zarka's eyes.
This time, he didn't form armor with it.
Vmmm!
He simply scattered the massive mana thickly toward Jeon.
His staff, saturated with black mana, crumbled to dust in the process.
"An attack?"
But the extended mana didn't assault Jeon.
It just filled the space between them, turning it pitch black.
"Kihehehek."
Zarka grinned smugly as the area darkened like a black filter had been applied.
But contrary to his laugh, his complexion looked awful.
To cast this, he'd drawn not just from hundreds of goblins, but his own mana and life force.
"He's literally staking his life on this."
And accordingly, the mana saturating the air brimmed with immense, ominous power.
"Kiheek!"
Zarka gestured lightly at Jeon.
The surrounding mana converged into blades and plunged down at him.
Splat!
Silver leaped in to block, but the attacks didn't stop.
"Kihehehek!"
Every gesture from Zarka made the mana ripple and form weapons flying from all directions.
No blind spots—front, back, left, right.
-This is getting dangerous.
Silver unleashed its silver flames fully, wrapping around Jeon's body.
Otherwise, blocking the simultaneous assaults would be impossible.
Krunch! Crunch crunch! Krunch! Krunch!
Dozens of attacks hammered Silver's form around Jeon.
Each one packed serious power; even with Jeon's mana technique running full tilt, it felt burdensome.
"Controlling space with mana..."
A realm Jeon couldn't even dream of at his current level.
Sure, Zarka was paying with the remnants from hundreds of goblins and his own life force, so it wasn't his full power.
Still, it was a completely new level of magic that inspired a subtle awe in Jeon.
But admiration was just that.
He knew his life hung by a thread.
"Never thought I'd have to use this."
So Jeon pulled out a manastone and a red artifact from his pocket—ones Jefferson had, made by Teynon of Midgal School.
He'd kept them stored since he couldn't extract mana without Jefferson's inefficient method.
But now wasn't the time to be picky.
Crunch.
Jeon bit his finger for blood and gripped the artifact with it.
Vmmm! Mana surged into him in exchange for his blood.
He also drew all the mana from the manastone.
For this brief moment, Jeon could wield far more mana than he normally held.
"To turn this around, only Compression will do."
Before, Zarka's vast mana made Compression ineffective even if Jeon used it.
But now, with Zarka's body depleted to fill the space, and Jeon's available mana temporarily amplified...
It was possible.
"Will, Compression."
Gathering all his mana, Jeon targeted Zarka and activated Compression.
But contrary to his expectations, the rune magic couldn't reach Zarka directly.
The black mana filling the space reacted, blocking its path.
Compression was still magic, after all.
It needed to connect to the target for full effect.
Without obstacles, it'd hit instantly.
But layered like this...
"Then I'll punch right through!"
There was no turning back now.
As if responding to his resolve, blood drained rapidly from his hand gripping the red artifact, replaced by surging mana.
Grind! Grgggggrind!
Thanks to that, the mana extending from Jeon began cracking the black mana space.
The cracks spread slowly at first toward Zarka, then accelerated explosively.
Crack! Craaaack!
The black mana between them shattered like glass.
"Kiek!?"
Crunch!
With a small death cry, Zarka's head compressed and tore from his body.
Thud.
The spellbook he clutched fell limply to the ground.