Chapter 72
Chapter 72
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: Magic Genius with Korean Patch 72
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"That magic again...!"
Seeing the ash-gray flicker at the tip of Jeon's staff, Kairon felt his impatience burning.
'These bastards are interfering...!'
Kairon knew full well that Jeon's spell required a long casting time.
He desperately wanted to crush that bizarre magic before it completed, but the ones beside Jeon weren't giving him the opening.
At first, it seemed like they were unleashing spells indiscriminately, but soon they began firing them with precise timing.
They didn't give Kairon even a moment to prepare a major spell, bombarding him relentlessly. Annoying as it was, he had no choice but to block them one by one.
Of course, if he used the 7th Circle magic that had clashed with Jeon's before, he could sweep them away in an instant.
In fact, within his mana field, he could conjure a 7th Circle spell with a mere gesture.
But even that required the bare minimum of time.
And his opponents timed their attacks perfectly to deny him even that tiny gap for gathering mana and making his move.
Of course, Kairon could spam magic at their level effortlessly.
Moments arose where he overwhelmed them and could press the advantage.
But every time, Ralph's distortion field shone through.
The moment the group fell behind in firepower, it effectively blocked Kairon's spells, turning his brief dominance into nothing.
'Why are there so many annoying pests!'
A young mage who seemed to be at the 5th Circle.
He wasn't as direct a threat as Jeon, but that was exactly why Kairon couldn't steamroll them despite his superior firepower.
"Such insolence...!"
In truth, if he'd stayed calm, this wouldn't have happened.
He could've crushed them with a 7th Circle spell before they shifted to staggered attacks.
But he'd foolishly wasted time blocking their assaults with defensive spells, and now the snowball effect had led to this.
Even when he tried to regain his composure belatedly,
every time he overwhelmed the others and gained breathing room, Khalid would slip in a 6th Circle spell.
Even for Kairon, creating an opening for 7th Circle magic was no easy feat.
'Should I push a little harder...!'
Honestly, this attrition war of trading spells should favor Kairon.
As an archmage, he could replenish mana while casting, but his foes couldn't.
Keep trading like this, and he'd come out on top.
The problem was that massive wildcard they had.
Grit.
Kairon ground his teeth for the first time in ages.
At this rate, he was just dancing to their tune.
"Fine, let's see what you've got!"
Whooooosh!
Gritting his teeth, he skipped steps and forcibly pulled up mana.
And at the same moment.
Hummm! Hummm! Hummmm!
Three 7th Circle spells began forming above his head simultaneously.
"...That madman!"
Three circles drawn in midair, each containing seven runes.
Rector couldn't help cursing at the sight.
Casting three 7th Circle spells at once?
And still countering the group's onslaught?
It was so astonishing that Rector wondered if Kairon was even human anymore—a being beyond mere mages.
"Looks like he's getting desperate too."
But Jeon’s eyes gleamed at the spectacle.
"What do you mean?"
"Even for Kairon, casting like that is a huge strain. His surrounding mana has already thinned noticeably."
Indeed, deploying three at once slowed the casting speed compared to before.
His mana field had visibly lost density too.
But still—three 7th Circle spells.
"We only survive those if we endure them, right? But... we have no way to block them..."
Rumble rumble rumble!
As Tasha said, the spells taking shape exuded overwhelming menace.
Even if one mutual-destructed with Jeon's ash-gray magic like before, the other two were unstoppable.
Jeon had no spare capacity with his own spell, and the others were already pouring out everything they had.
No countermeasures, no margin for error.
"There is a way."
"Really?"
Yet Jeon replied with utter confidence.
Tasha, who'd been gripped by worry, brightened slightly.
In this hopeless bind, Jeon's words alone could ignite hope in the group—proof of his immense influence.
"Ralph, could you lend Khalid the Ring of Distortion?"
"...Of course."
Ralph handed the Ring of Distortion to Khalid without hesitation.
He didn't even ask how to use it, diving straight back into blasting Kairon with spells.
Khalid, already briefed by Jeon, infused his mana into the ring the moment he received it.
He exchanged a quick glance with Jeon.
Jeon nodded once; Khalid nodded back and turned to the group.
"Good. Everyone except Jeon—stop casting the instant I signal."
"Understood."
The group nodded without questions.
The moment the mana-saturated ring began humming faintly.
"Now—go!"
At Khalid's signal,
the barrage from the group cut off abruptly.
As a result, separate from the brewing 7th Circle spells, Kairon's counter-spells flew toward them unblocked.
Hummmm!
But the distortion field from Khalid's ring blocked them.
"...That!"
Kairon's eyes flickered at the sight.
For good reason.
Khalid's distortion field synced with his mana field, warping the entire silver-white domain.
Roooar! Far stronger than Ralph's version,
it roared with fierce winds.
"So that's your game!"
Kairon instantly grasped their plan.
Block his spells with the distortion field, then finish him with Jeon's ash-gray magic.
Realizing this, he couldn't sit idle.
He halted his minor counters, pouring everything into the three 7th Circle spells.
"Think you can withstand this?!"
Rumble rumble boom! Focusing sharpened the casting speed.
The spells quickly took form.
But Khalid didn't idle either.
Roooar!
Maintaining the distortion field, he charged toward Kairon with the group inside.
"You old fool!"
Flames erupted in Kairon's eyes at the sight.
His completed spells fired sequentially at the approaching distortion field.
Kwaaa—Kwaaaaa!
Each clash of silver flame wave and distortion field boomed thunderously.
Yet Khalid's mana-field distortion held firm, cleaving through the silver inferno.
Kwaaaaaaaaang!
The wave and sun merged, erupting in cataclysmic explosion.
And the third spell followed.
A spear formed from swirling silver flames shot toward the blast's epicenter.
The scattered flames from the explosion were sucked into the vortex, amplifying its power.
The spear struck the center, scattering dense silver light everywhere.
Perfect linkage—not a drop of power wasted.
Flash—!
Not a single flame escaped outward.
"Cough."
The toll of such overexertion: blood trickled from Kairon's mouth amid coughs.
But a smile played on his lips.
Heh heh.
The distortion field charging at him had halted.
Yet he didn't let his guard down.
Suppressing the backlash, he began prepping his next spell.
As he stabilized his mana and queued the follow-up, the explosion's aftermath cleared.
First to emerge: a massive boulder pile.
Rector had swiftly cast a defense spell, sensing the distortion couldn't block it all.
The rocks crumbled bit by bit, revealing the group inside.
At the front: Khalid.
"Impressive... a true archmage..."
His disheveled form emerged from the rubble—hair a mess.
With the distortion shattered, his mana field had dissipated too.
"Cough, cough, hack!"
Unlike Kairon's mere trickle of blood, Khalid vomited it with coughs, doubling over.
The Ring of Distortion he'd borrowed lay shattered from overload, scattered on the ground.
"Urk..."
Clack, clatter.
As Rector's boulder pile collapsed fully, the others appeared in similar wretched states.
They'd all layered defenses with him but couldn't fully withstand the onslaught.
Yet oddly, amid the total collapse,
one person was missing.
"Th-the kid...?"
Kairon realized it—and chills ran down his spine.
"Right here."
Jeon's voice echoed from behind him.
'Damn...!'
Overexertion had thinned his mana field, disabling its full sensory coverage.
Kairon whipped around in panic, but
Flaaaash!
Jeon's dense ash-gray spell confronted him.
"Grrrrraaagh!"
Roarrrrr!
In response, he hastily unleashed his prepped spell.
Half-formed, the silver flames still obeyed his will, sluggishly blocking the ash-gray advance.
Hummmm!
But Jeon's ash-gray magic ignored the silver flames entirely, shoving them aside as it closed in.
'Th-this can't... it can't...!'
Kairon's eyes trembled at the approaching doom.
He couldn't even imagine what that unknown spell would do.
Worse, memories of his betrayals to reach this point fueled his dread.
"Raaaaagh!"
He screamed desperately, straining with all he had, but Jeon's spell wouldn't yield.
"Time to end this!"
Jeon kept pouring mana into it.
Kairon's struggles would soon be crushed.
'Me? Lose like this?'
After selling out comrades for 8th Circle ascent, was this his end?
Unacceptable.
How, after coming this far—and still not reaching 8th Circle!
From his backlash-wracked body, he squeezed every last drop of mana.
"I won't let it end like this!"
Flash!
A silver mana strand shot from him.
Not at the ash-gray—but bypassing it, straight at Jeon.
"Last gasp...!"
Jeon released Silver from his bosom to intercept.
It should've ended there, but
Shhhrk.
'It passed through?'
Incredibly, the silver mana phased through Silver like a ghost.
It reached Jeon.
Fwoooosh!
And with that, Jeon felt the world around him turn entirely silver.