Demi-God Battle (1) - Demi-God

I could understand why the elder mages were called half-gods.

What the hell kind of mana capacity is this? No, forget the sheer volume of mana— the aura rising from their bodies was downright unnatural.

Fire Dragon and Eternal Snow.

Karim Jeba and Senios.

The pinnacle of fire magic and ice magic.

And they hadn't even properly unleashed a single spell yet.

...An insane pressure.

The pressure emanated unconsciously from their mana alone.

And among the two, Karim Jeba was the problem.

Maybe it was because he'd scolded me as rude from the very first word.

He was blatantly radiating heat toward me.

"How dare you."

Just level 333.

For a fragile guy like me, it was probably heat I couldn't even withstand.

In that sense, thank you once again.

Well done, past me.

To me, who'd made full preparations.

Who'd dug many wells.

And to the enchantment mage senior, Kiko Armin, who'd worked hard in place of my clumsy hands.

Yes, even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠against this kind of heat.

The simple reason I could stand tall was this.

Simple: item power.

It was all thanks to the handkerchief's fire attribute affinity increase effect.

In Arcana, affinity is a higher concept.

Not only resistance to that attribute.

But also enhanced effects when manifesting skills of that attribute.

The bonuses from increased affinity were substantial.

The handkerchief wasn't unique grade for nothing.

Nor did it bear the name masterwork lightly.

However.

If I stopped here, it wouldn't be full preparations.

I said it before: I might not know much, but I know my place.

No matter how excellent the effect.

It's ultimately a level 200 restricted item.

I didn't expect a single handkerchief to block Karim Jeba's fire magic.

Blocking a half-god's magic with a level 200 item?

That'd be too shameless.

What I'd come up with was, as mentioned, enchantment magic.

The magic that extracts effects from items and imbues them into others.

During the preparation time before Karim Jeba made his move.

I didn't waste it.

I really hounded Kiko Armin relentlessly.

Discerning effects extractable from items.

And the process of imbuing extracted effects into items.

And without paying a dime.

In short: I properly abused my chief mage authority.

And the result of that power abuse appeared in messages.

From clothes to shoes to rings.

Coated in fire attribute affinity increase effects.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Yes, thanks to that pathetic struggling.

Fragile me could remain unscathed amid this heat...!

Truthfully, if I were greedy.

I wanted to extract and imbue effects related to the Aesthetics stat too.

Why? My Aesthetics was still stuck at Lower.

But of course, that wouldn't go as I wished.

If it were possible, everyone would major in enchantment magic.

So I had to settle for this.

This was already a blessing.

-"This success rate is a first for me too. Ugh, how did I do it?! I need to hold onto this sensation...!! I'm never washing my hands again from now on."

It was such a massive success that even Kiko was bewildered.

-"......Anyway, it's all thanks to Chief Mage Lee Hoyeol!"

Thanks to me?

All I'd done was add a nervous postscript to the order form, worried about losing my precious items.

Of course, I took Kiko's gratitude as a given.

Anyway, I have to thank her once more.

The half-gods' mind games.

The heat and cold clashing in their aura battle.

Without the Warmth buff and the enchanted fire attribute affinity......

Wouldn't I be a shrimp caught in a whale fight by now?

A frozen shrimp tossed onto a scorching hot plate, no less.

My back would've been properly scorched.

Of course, it was too early to relax.

Flames surging from Karim Jeba's hand.

Rapid manifestation skipping exploration and interference.

Even so, its power was incomplete.

......Madness, for real.

The ground was melting like ice cream?

How hot was that flame?

Not content with melting, it began boiling like lava.

Senios spoke in admiration.

"Indeed, no need to consider the battlefield!"

I recalled Senios's words.

-"Choosing a battlefield advantageous against a strong foe is crucial."

Even in fights between the strong, the environment mattered.

In that sense, the rift was advantageous to Senios.

Even if only half, it was a snowy plain.

The temperature was cold enough for snowflakes.

He's turning that advantageous battlefield against himself.

No complex high magic needed.

Karim Jeba simply manifested flames.

And began turning the rift into a lava field.

Why he was called Fire Dragon.

And a half-god.

Not lacking common sense—he's beyond needing it.

Of course, I wasn't just admiring.

If Karim Jeba had fire and Senios ice magic.

I too had something I could wield just as skillfully against them.

Present in this battlefield.

Kurrr rumble—!

If Karim Jeba skipped exploration and interference for fire.

For me, the 'ground' I stood on.

Was familiar enough to skip those steps.

The surging earth surface.

It was no longer a mere stone wall.

This was a battlefield where half-gods and elder mages clashed.

I couldn't keep relying on trivial stone walls forever.

Kurrr rumble—!

This was literally uplifting the earth's crust.

"Oh ho."

Senios's eyebrow twitched.

"Indeed, Marcelo's evaluation was spot on."

Kurr rumble—!

Why uplift the crust? Simple.

Think I'd just watch innocently?

To limit Karim Jeba's domain.

Why? No matter how hot the lava, it can't melt a volcano, right?

A manifestation that reshapes terrain.

Past me couldn't even dream of this scale.

But it didn't consume much mana.

Doping from elixirs? Mana regen from items? Helpful, sure.

But the biggest reason was elsewhere.

Yes.

Knowledge of all minerals.

Skipping exploration and interference.

Casting magic of this scale without mana constraints.

All thanks to Pure Knowledge's Pentagram, epic-grade item power.

"......!"

How's my struggling taste, Karim Jeba?

Of course, even as I thought that, the ground kept rising.

Kud rumble—!

The moment the crustal shift ended.

Karim Jeba's lava could flow no further.

And unintentionally.

The ground I stood on ended up much higher than where Karim Jeba stood?

So.

"You seem to mistake your position."

I could only look down at Karim Jeba and declare.

"You are no longer the Fire Dragon. Merely a great traitor, a pathetic demon worshiper."

......No, but I wasn't wrong.

Did he really need to glare like that?

Karim Jeba retorted, radiating heat.

"Silence. Novice adventurer."

If silence were an option, I wouldn't have opened my mouth from the start.

I wouldn't have spoken at all.

Senios backed my stance.

"Indeed, eye level befitting a great traitor."

"Foolish, Senios."

"Foolish? Me?"

"You already know. Do not turn from the true truth."

True truth?

What was that now?

I couldn't interject into their private talk.

But no big worry, whatever they discussed.

I knew what kind of man Senios was.

Karim Jeba spoke seriously.

Senios sneered openly.

"True truth? Bullshit. Where's that in the world?"

"......W-what?"

"Act human if you're human, Karim Jeba. Everyone around fawns 'Fire Dragon, Fire Dragon'—you think you're some eternal dragon now?"

I said it.

Unlike his appearance.

Senios wasn't a proper mage.

As he said, a rotten mage.

-"Not that I'd say this to your face, but from the moment I entered the Mage Tower, I had doubts. Pursuing truth and all...... But if what you reach through pursuit is truth, is that banal thing really truth?"

He lacked the innate desire for truth that Mage Tower mages should have.

-"With a twisted mage like me holding an elder seat, how could the tower function properly? Haha! Embarrassing even for me to say!"

When I heard that.

I wondered: then why did Senios enter the Mage Tower?

The reason was simple.

-"Purely to prove my strength."

There was someone in the tower who could prove it.

-"I entered the Mage Tower chasing the Fire Dragon."

Fire Dragon.

His fame predated tower entry.

Not incomprehensible.

Mage Tower mages rarely ventured outside.

Senios had added, eyes gleaming.

-"A chance to fell the Fire Dragon with my own hands and prove my strength! How could I pass it up? Ah, of course, I didn't forget the pretext of righting the tower. So considering that, grant tower exit permission......"

......See? I didn't mention his looks for nothing.

Who'd believe it?

Elder mage Senios set out to judge Karim Jeba over petty grudge.

"I thought you'd understand. A misjudgment, Senios."

No. The one mistaken is you, Karim Jeba.

Senios is far more unhinged than you think.

Goooo—

Karim Jeba's mana surged again.

This time, flames enveloped his body.

No matter how fire affinity-coated.

That firepower would be dangerous even grazing.

"Then no mercy. You, the novice adventurer—I'll burn you all."

Full declaration of war.

Senios, who'd waited most eagerly.

Had no hesitation.

Crackle—!

Freezing air layer.

Soon, massive ice enveloped Senios.

Not enough—he rapidly cooled the area.

Like drawing a line.

"To dare glance elsewhere before Eternal Snow Senios? I cannot allow it. Relying on type advantage, eh?"

As Senios said, magic has counters.

Fire and ice: extreme matchup.

Karim Jeba knew it too.

"Your petty tricks are useless before my flames."

Of course, I'd read countless magic tomes too.

I knew it well.

So I didn't sit idle.

Not for nothing I'd spent precious mana upheaving the terrain.

Butting in sloppily would just be interference.

Remember my place.

As said, I was just a shrimp in whale fight.

But this was anticipated.

Part of full preparations.

Crustal shift.

Pssshhh—!!

Underground water gushed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from the earth.

Magic has counters.

Like rock-paper-scissors.

Profound cycle of predation.

─────

Ice < Fire < Water < Ice < Fire < Water...

─────

Yes.

Maximally tilting the battlefield advantageously.

That was my best now.

Psssh—!

Pssshhh—!

Underground water jets surging everywhere.

Poison to Karim Jeba's fire magic.

Tonic to Senios's ice magic.

"......!!"

Noticing the battlefield change.

Their reactions split clearly.

"......The novice!!"

"Sturdy support, Chief Lee Hoyeol!"

I thought, watching them.

Marcelo, Matis. Even Banggrit is fine.

Anyone, hurry up.

This battlefield too overwhelming without Predator-Prey Relationship.

*

Marcelo gritted his teeth.

Same as with Banggrit.

"Chief Marcelo. That's!"

"Yes. Demons."

From the collapsing rift.

Demons pouring out.

Unlike Banggrit, not very strong individually.

But their numbers were vast.

Endless ranks.

Marcelo intuited.

This many demons moving solely for the demon king's revival?

No matter what.

Must block demon king revival.

So he worried.

Facing demons on top of Karim Jeba...

Won't be easy.

Of course, who faced Karim Jeba unknown.

Rift: realm of anomalies. No telepathy out.

But one certainty.

"Senior Bellie Yusia."

"Yes?"

"We'll speed up."

"Marcelo, any more strain..."

Bellie trailed off.

Should stop him...

But Marcelo's eyes resolute.

She gripped her staff instead.

"Understood. Let's sweep them as you wish."

Goal: great traitor Karim Jeba.

Can't be hindered by mere demons.

Swiftly close rift, support others.

.

.

.

Shapes pouring from afar.

Before visual confirmation.

Message rose.

......Wait.

If so, disregard overwhelming.

I immediately declared to Karim Jeba.

"It suits you, Karim Jeba."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Unlike one desperately awaiting reinforcements.

"......Suits?"

Utterly unimaginable.

"Rationalizing with true truth nonsense.

Ultimately depending on demons.

Your ugliness fits a pathetic demon worshiper."

Shamelessly.