Chapter 70
Chapter 70
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: Korean Patch Magic Genius 70
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Inside the room where Kairon resided.
In a place filled only with silence aside from his breathing, ripples formed once more.
And the sound emerging from those ripples was nothing short of a scream itself.
"Old man! Old maaaaan!"
Due to Valkazar's desperate cries, Kairon's brow twitched once.
"What is it?"
"The ones who came looking for you because of you are causing absolute chaos! Get over here and handle it yourself!"
"...Weren't you supposed to block them?"
"Shut up and handle it yourself!"
"..."
Even as his life ebbed away.
Valkazar didn't admit due to his pride that he couldn't stop them, but Kairon could roughly grasp the situation from his frantic voice.
'Valkazar got done in.'
Did the White Magic Tower send some proper forces after all?
In any case, having assessed the facts, Kairon slowly unfolded his legs from the lotus position.
"Alright, I get it. I'll handle it myself."
And with those words as the last.
Valkazar felt the connection between himself and the space sever.
At the same moment, ripples formed in the empty air directly above Valkazar.
"You're putting on quite the unsightly display."
From within the ripples stepped a middle-aged mage with short white hair: Kairon.
"Ka... Kairon...!"
Spotting Kairon, Rector called out his name in a trembling voice.
But Kairon didn't even glance at Rector, instead directing his gaze to Valkazar, who lay in a hideous state on the floor.
"...You're in far more pathetic shape than I imagined."
"Guh! Guuuuh!"
Valkazar writhed in irritation at Kairon's gaze looking down on him with pity.
But with his vocal cords burned, no proper voice came out.
"You're still so noisy. If only you were as useful as you are loud."
"Guuuuh!? Guuuuuh!?"
"We're in a give-and-take relationship, but if you can't give, you shouldn't take either."
Thud.
As if annoyed by Valkazar's gurgling without even a proper voice, Kairon swung his hand once.
Valkazar's head was crushed and pulverized on the spot.
"So, you came all this way because of me."
"Kairon..."
Rector called out Kairon's name once more in a trembling voice as he watched him calmly survey Jeon and the others as if it were nothing.
"Yes, Rector. You've come, have you? Then Khalid must be with you."
"That's right. I've come too."
In response to Kairon's words, Khalid—who had already dealt with most of the chimeras—met his calm gaze.
"Even Tasha, stuck in the dispatch team, has come?"
"Ka... Kairon..."
Tasha hesitated upon seeing Kairon recognize her.
All three already knew from the circumstances that Kairon had betrayed the Silvermont mages.
But he was a pillar-like figure who had influenced not just the Silvermont mages, but the entire Baek Eun organization.
No matter how much they'd steeled themselves, facing him in person made their emotions surge uncontrollably.
"And... I don't recognize the other two."
After glancing at the three once each, Kairon's gaze shifted sequentially to Jeon and Ralph.
"You all shouldn't have come."
Having looked over everyone once, Kairon muttered in a tone of lament.
But no emotion could be felt in his eyes as he said it.
"Now I have no choice but to kill you all."
Crack!
With his words, the ground began to split centered beneath his feet. The web-like collapse spread instantly to everyone's feet.
"Kairon! Calm down! If we all survive, we can go back!"
Rector shouted at Kairon with his last shred of hope, but Kairon shook his head even after hearing his desperate plea.
"No, that's not possible. What's done can't be undone. And above all, I have no intention of letting it."
Roar—Kwaaaaaa!
With those words, silver flames erupted simultaneously from the cracks in the floor.
"Grraaah!?"
To wield such wide-area magic as naturally as breathing.
Jeon was once again struck by how lofty the realm of an archmage truly was.
'Still, it's not something we can't block.'
The fortunate part was that, being so broad in range, its power wasn't overwhelmingly strong.
Jeon defended with a distortion field using Lunareik, Rector with a giant's hand, and the three relatively farther back blocked the attack with Ralph's distortion field.
"Well then... now all the eyesores are gone, I suppose."
But seeing that, Kairon nodded as if he'd expected it.
And rightly so.
From the start, he'd targeted not Jeon and the group, but the chimeras swarming around them and Valkazar's corpse.
"I've always hated the sight of them anyway."
Having burned away all the displeasing things with silver flames, he began seriously drawing up mana.
'This is...!'
In that instant, Jeon, facing him up close, felt the surrounding air vibrate subtly as he drew up mana.
"Everyone, fall back!"
Noticing Kairon's movements, Khalid dashed forward as if he'd been waiting.
A 6th Circle spell was already manifesting from his staff.
Fwaaah!
A silver-white beam of light, as if to erase everything in sight, shot from the tip of Khalid's staff.
Roar!
In response, silver flames swirled from Kairon's fingertips and extended outward.
Kwaaaaaa!
The two clashing spells struggled briefly before canceling each other out and dissipating.
"Khalid, you've made quite some progress in the meantime."
"...I have to earn the title of archmage before I grow too old to die."
"Hahaha! True, it's not yet time to give up."
After their fierce clash, the two faced each other.
Kairon still wore a calm, leisurely expression, but Khalid's face showed tension bordering on grim resolve.
'Even match... is that really true?'
After entering the dungeon, when Jeon had asked about Kairon and the group's strength.
Khalid had definitely described it as an even match.
Yet after just one clash, Jeon couldn't even gauge how superior Kairon's level was.
An even match against such a being? Was that possible?
Or had Kairon grown even stronger in the interim?
And it seemed Jeon wasn't alone in that thought; Khalid, having clashed directly, asked Kairon himself.
"You've... gotten stronger too, Kairon."
"I had to. Otherwise, there'd be no reason for me to come this far."
For the first time, a change crossed Kairon's face upon hearing Khalid.
A somewhat bitter smile tugged at his lips.
"You mean...?"
"You must have some idea already. If you'd arrived just a few months later, I'd have already stepped into a new realm."
"At the cost of... your comrades?"
"Well... you could say that."
So that's why Kairon caused the mass disappearance of Silvermont mages.
'To advance to the 8th Circle?'
Normally, one could only ascend to higher circles through enlightenment.
But Kairon planned to shatter the barrier to the next circle by sacrificing other Silvermont mages in place of that enlightenment.
Regardless of whether it was possible, committing such an act was inhuman.
"For something so trivial...!"
Thus, Jeon felt rage boiling up unbidden.
As one who had inherited Silvermont's will.
He knew well how arduously they had carried on their lineage and history.
"A child like you wouldn't understand yet."
"Shut up! It's not about understanding! No human would do such a thing!"
Crackle!
With that, Jeon formed a lightning spear at Lunareik's tip and hurled it.
"Impressive that you've reached such heights at your young age."
Whoosh.
But Jeon's spell was blocked by a single gesture from Kairon.
'So even that won't work on him?'
Jeon gritted his teeth, freshly reminded of the archmage's impenetrable wall.
"Child, at your age and level, you might not grasp someone thrashing just to climb one circle. But... the place I stand is a completely different world from yours."
Kairon shook his head at Jeon with an expression saying you couldn't understand.
It was both looking down on him and dismissive, yet his words rang with sincerity.
"I can't agree with that, Kairon. No, traitor Kairon."
But Khalid stepped forward to counter Kairon's words.
"If you've abandoned your humanity for the sake of circles, Kairon, you're no different from a monster."
Now calling him by name without honorifics, Khalid slowly drew mana from his entire body.
"Hm... You're serious about this, Khalid?"
"Of course."
Fwaaaah!
Soon, the surging mana from his body rapidly spread outward.
Silver-white mana began filling the space around Khalid, Kairon, and even Jeon.
'This is...?'
Jeon widened his eyes, having seen something similar before.
'That goblin mage back then...!'
The spell the goblin mage Zarka had squeezed out in his final moments.
Just like when black mist-like mana had filled the space, Kairon's mana now began dominating the space itself.
"Your mana field has become quite solid."
"Thanks for the compliment!"
With that exchange as the finale, Khalid swung his staff.
A spell that should have manifested at the staff's tip instead drew circles and shapes in the air above Kairon's head, activating there.
"And your casting speed has improved too."
Fwaat!
Kairon leaped back, simultaneously manifesting silver flames from his fingertips to cancel the plunging silver-white beam.
But Khalid wasn't done.
"Let's see how long you can just watch!"
Pabababat!
At Khalid's shout, five spells began casting simultaneously in the air.
The silver-white mana-filled space danced like extensions of Khalid's limbs—an astonishing sight.
'Incredible...!'
Khalid's magical prowess on the way here had already been impressive enough.
But it felt like he'd been holding back until now; the level he displayed was breathtaking.
"Hm, you've improved a great deal."
Only then did Kairon swing both hands at Khalid's simultaneous spells.
What happened wasn't the creation of new magic, but cracks forming in the silver-white filled space.
"Shall we test just how strong your hold on this mana field is?"
Crack!
With his words, cracks appeared in the space around Kairon, and the silver-white mana there shattered and dispersed.
In its place settled dense silver mana.
Crack—Crackle!
The silver mana soon cracked the space further, expanding its range.
At that point, Khalid had to pour all his effort into maintaining his space—his mana field—rather than spells, causing his casts to cancel as he gritted his teeth.
"Nngh!"
Kwaaaaaa!
Despite Khalid's efforts, the silver mana expanded further.
Thanks to his struggle, a portion of Khalid's mana field held... but...
"What... in the world...?"
Aside from the small space Khalid had carved out, their entire surroundings filled with silver mana.
"Oh ho, you're still holding your mana field somehow."
Even after creating such an overwhelming difference, Kairon praised Khalid instead.
And rightly so.
He'd intended to completely erode Khalid's entire mana field.
Withstanding that deserved commendation.
Stagger.
But it clearly wasn't easy for Khalid, as his form swayed once.
"Lord Khalid! Are you alright?!"
The group, who had gathered beside him during the mana field deployment, checked his condition.
"I'm... still fine. For now."
But Khalid waved off the group and stared straight at Kairon, who had deployed the overwhelming mana field.
"The real fight starts now. From here on, don't step outside the space I've created. No matter what."
"Why is that?"
"Outside is Kairon's domain. Handling mana properly there will be difficult."
"Something like that... is possible?"
Ralph muttered in disbelief at Khalid's words.
"Yes, that's precisely what an archmage's mana field is."
Mana field.
It refers to a high-circle mage enveloping a certain space with their mana and gaining dominance over it.
Typically, like Khalid, it amplifies spell power within the dominated space, allows casting from any position, and boosts casting speed.
But if the mage's level is high enough, they can truly dominate the mana in that space.
"Spells created within my space are fine, but outside, you might not even cast—or if you do, the power will be negligible."
This was exactly why facing an archmage was trickier than a master-level warrior, as Khalid had mentioned earlier.
'So this... is dominating space.'
Hearing the explanation of the mana field, Jeon felt chills run through his body.
He'd thought creating a distortion field with Ralph meant complete understanding of mana and space.
But realms far above existed.
"Well, now that the simple explanation is done, shall we begin?"
While the group huddled and chatted, Kairon grew bored and started walking toward them.
The group halted their talk and turned to him.
"...From here on, we'll truly be risking our lives."
Since learning magic, Jeon had fought life-or-death battles—against Jefferson, Silvermont ruins, Jack, the goblin mage, and more.
But he'd never felt like he couldn't win even betting his life.
Today, for the first time, Jeon faced an opponent he felt he couldn't beat, even at the cost of his life.
Yet he had no intention of giving up powerlessly and accepting death.
Already sensing something ominous, Jeon accelerated the spell he'd been preparing.
"I might create even a small opening. Don't miss it, everyone."
And at the tip of Jeon's staff, faint ashen magic began to flicker.