◈ Chapter 100. Demigod War (1)

Demigods.

I could see why the elder mages were called demigods.

What kind of magic power is this?

No, it’s not the sheer amount of magic power, but the momentum emanating from his body.

“Fire dragon and Ice Cap.”

Karimzeva and Senios.

The pinnacle of fire and ice magic.

They have yet to manifest their true magic.

“……Crazy intimidating.”

I could feel the pressure from the magic power spewing out unconsciously.

Of the two, Karimzeva was the problem.

Maybe it’s because he’s so ignorant from the start.

He was blatantly radiating heat toward me.

“How dare you.”

Only level 333.

That’s a lot of heat for my frail body to handle.

In that case, thank you again.

“Well done, old me.”

For being prepared.

To the one who dug so many wells.

And to my shitty hands.

And to Senior Enchantment Mage, Kiko Armin, for a great job.

[Masterpiece – Silken Carp Scale Hankerchief]

[Rank: Unique]

[Limit: Lv.200]

[Effect: When equipped, increases Fire Property Affinity / Increases Evasion Chance against all attacks / Opens Aesthetic Stat]

[Description: Specially crafted from the rarest of materials. Its value is beyond anyone’s comprehension. It’s worthy of the title Masterpiece].

Yes, even in this heat.

The reason I can stand up is simple.

It’s simply temporal.

It was all thanks to the [Increased Fire Affinity] effect on my Hankerchief.

“In Arcana, affinity is a higher concept.”

As well as resistance to that attribute.

The effects of manifesting skills of that attribute.

The additional effects of increased affinity were significant.

Hankerchief was unnecessarily ranked [Unique].

As if that weren’t bad enough, it’s labeled as a [Masterpiece].

But.

“If you’re satisfied with that, you’re not ready.

I told you.

I don’t know about anything else, but I do know about the main concept.

No matter how effective it is.

A level 200 item, after all.

I didn’t expect a simple Hankerchief to be able to block Karimzeva’s fire magic.

A level 200 restricted item against a demigod’s magic.

‘It’s because he has no conscience.

That’s what I thought.

As I said, it was enchantment.

Enchantment, the art of extracting an effect from an item and applying it to another item.

Karimzeva had a few days to prepare before he had to act.

I did not waste that time.

‘I was very persistent in harassing Kiko Armin.

Effects that can be extracted from an item.

Determine which effects cannot.

And the process of applying the extracted effect to the item.

‘And I didn’t even pay for it.’

In short.

I had abused my position of authority.

The consequences of my misuse of power were manifested in the message.

[Effect: Grants increased affinity to Fire element while worn]

[Effect: Grants increased affinity to Fire element while worn]

[Effect: Grants increased affinity to Fire element while worn]

[Effect: Grants increased affinity to Fire element while worn] [Effect: Grants increased affinity to Fire element while worn] …….

From clothes to shoes to rings.

F*ck with the Fire affinity bonus.

Yes, thanks to my pathetic efforts.

I’m weak.

I was able to stay alive in this heat……!

“Actually, it’s more like greed.”

I was hoping to extract some effects for the [Aesthetics] stat as well.

Why, my aesthetics were still at [Low].

But I don’t know if that’s even possible.

‘If that were possible, everyone would be majoring in enchantment.’

In other words, I had to be satisfied with this.

In fact, I’m sure you’ll appreciate this.

-“I’ve never had a success rate like that before. Ugh, how did I do that?! I need to maintain this sensation……!! I’m not going to wash my hands from now on.”

It was such a success that even Kiko was dumbfounded.

-“……Anyway, it’s all thanks to you, Chief Lee!”

All thanks to me.

I did nothing.

I didn’t want to lose any of my precious items.

All I had to do was write a note on the order.

Of course, I took Kiko’s gratitude for granted.

‘In any case, I can’t help but thank you again.’

A battle of the demigods.

The heat and cold of the battle.

If it weren’t for the [Warmth] buff and the [Fire Attribute Affinity] I got from the enchantment……. I would have been a shrimp in a whale fight by now, a frozen shrimp on a hot plate.

I’d have gotten my ass kicked.

Of course, it’s too soon to rest easy.

Pow!

Flames erupted from Karimzeva’s hand.

Rapid manifestation, with no assimilation, no interference.

As a result, its power was imperfect.

……Crazy, really.

The surface is melting like ice cream, isn’t it?

How high is the heat, those blazes.

No, it’s not just melting, it’s boiling like lava.

Senios said in an admiring voice.

“Indeed, the battlefield is not to be considered!”

I remembered Senios’ words.

-“The stronger the opponent, the more important it is to choose a favorable battlefield.”

Even in a battle of the mighty, the environment of the battlefield matters.

In that way, the Rift was a favorable battlefield for Senios.

Snowfields, even if only half of them.

The temperature was just right for snowflakes.

‘I’m turning that battlefield to my advantage.’

It didn’t require any complicated high-level magic.

Paaaaat─

Crackle.

Karimzeva simply manifested flames.

He began to turn the rift into a lava field.

No wonder he was called the Fire Dragon.

No wonder he was called a demigod.

‘It’s not that he’s stupid, it’s that he doesn’t need common sense, right?

Of course, I was not alone in my admiration.

If Karimzeva was fire, and Senios was ice magic.

I’m not far behind them.

Something I could master.

It existed on this battlefield.

Quadruple!

If Karimzeva had omitted the process of assimilation and interfering with the flames.

For me, the “ground” I’m treading on.

is familiar enough that I can dispense with the process of assimilation and interference.

It is a familiar object.

The rising surface.

It was no longer an insignificant stone wall.

It was a battlefield of demigods and elder mages.

I can’t keep worrying about a simple stone wall like I used to.

Quadruple quadruple!

It literally lifted the earth’s crust.

” Ohhhh.”

Senios’s eyebrows wiggled.

“So, Marcelo was correct in his evaluation.”

Boom!

Why lift the earth’s crust?

Simple.

“Do you think I’m going to be so naive?”

To limit Karimzeva’s area.

Why, even the hottest lava can’t melt a volcano, can it? Such a landscape-altering manifestation, the old me couldn’t even dream of it.

But it didn’t consume a lot of magic power.

Doping with herbs?

Magic regeneration from items?

They may have helped a little.

The biggest reason was something else.

[The Pentagram of Pure Knowledge]

[Rating: Epic]

[Limitations: None]

[Effect : When worn, the wearer gains knowledge of every mineral and every plant on the continent of Arcana].

[Description : A magic tool that contains an immeasurable amount of knowledge].

It was.

Knowledge of all minerals.

Without the need for assimilation or interference.

The ability to manifest magic of this magnitude, regardless of magic power. It’s all thanks to the [Pure Knowledge].

“……!”

How do you taste my struggle, Karimzeva?

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

Cuddle, cuddle, cuddle!

The moment the tectonic shift ended.

The lava that Karimzeva had created could no longer flow.

And it wasn’t meant to be.

Somehow, the ground I was standing on had risen much higher than the ground Karimzeva was standing on?

So.

“I think you’re mistaking your position.”

I couldn’t help but look down at Karimzeva and say.

“You are no longer a fire dragon. You are nothing more than a mortal sinner, a lowly demon worshipper.”

……No, but I wasn’t wrong either.

Do you really need to bat your eyes so much?

Karimzeva spoke up, radiating heat.

“Shut up. Adventurer brat.”

If only being told to shut up could make me shut up.

“I didn’t even open my mouth to begin with, did I?”

Senios interrupted me.

“Indeed, with eyes befitting a high criminal.”

“Foolish. Senios.”

“Foolish? Am I?”

“You already know that. Don’t try to blind yourself to the real truth.”

The real truth?

What the hell is that?

I couldn’t intrude on a conversation that only they knew.

But I wasn’t too worried about what they were talking about.

I was well aware of the kind of man Senios was.

Karimzeva was serious.

Senios scowled.

“Real truth? Bullshit. There is no such thing in the world.”

“……What, what?”

“Be a human being and act like one, Karimzeva. Fire dragons and fire dragons were talking by people around you. Did you really think you were a dragon that lived for eons?”

I told you.

It’s not what it looks like.

Senios is not a proper mage.

In his own words, he was a gluttonous mage.

-“I say this in front of you, but I’ve had my doubts since I set foot in the tower. The search for truth, the so-called……. After all, if truth is something you can reach by searching for it, I was wondering if that stupid thing was even true.”

He didn’t have the desire for truth that a mage of the tower should have.

He had no desire for truth.

-“With a crooked mage like this as an elder, how can the tower roll properly? Hahaha, I’m embarrassed to say it, yes!”

When I heard that.

I had a question.

So how did Senios end up in the Magic Tower?

The reason was simple.

-“That was purely to prove my strength.”

Because there was someone in the tower who could prove his strength.

-“I entered the Magic Tower by chasing a fire dragon.”

The Fire Dragon.

His reputation was built before he entered the Tower.

It shouldn’t be hard to understand.

Mages in the Tower basically didn’t go outside.

Senios’s eyes widened, and he added, “With my own hands, I could slay a fire dragon.”

-“A chance to slay a fire dragon with my own hands, to prove my strength, how could I pass it up? Oh, of course. I haven’t forgotten about the cause of correcting the Magic Tower. So, with that in mind, permission to leave the tower…….”

……I didn’t just make that up, did I?

Who would have thought?

Would you even believe me if I told you?

Senios, the elder mage, felt this way.

that he was out to kill Karimzeva.

“I thought you would understand. I was mistaken, Senios.”

No.

You are the one who is mistaken, Karimzeva.

Senios, he’s even worse than you thought.

Ohhhhhhhhh!

Karimzeva’s magic surges once more.

This time, flames began to surround his body.

Even if he was covered in flame affinity.

With that kind of Fire Power, it would be dangerous to even touch him.

“Then there is no mercy. Not for you, adventurer brat. I’ll burn you all.”

The declaration of open war.

Senios had been waiting for this moment more than anyone.

There was no hesitation on his part.

Tsk, tsk, tsk!

A layer of freezing air.

Immediately, a giant sheet of ice wrapped around Senios’ body.

As if that wasn’t enough, it was rapidly cooling the area.

As if drawing a line.

“You dare to be distracted by someone else in the presence of Senios the Ice Cap? That is unacceptable to me. It seems that you believe in the superiority of the opposite sex.”

Senios is right, there are complementarities in magic.

Fire magic and ice magic are opposites.

No wonder Karimzeva knew that.

“Your remnants are useless in the face of my flames.”

Of course, I, a voracious reader of magical texts, knew that too.

So I didn’t stand still.

Even as I expended my precious magic.

It wasn’t for nothing that I turned the ground upside down.

“Even a vague interruption is an interruption.”

Don’t forget, stay on the subject.

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

But this was to be expected.

It’s another one of those things that comes with the territory.

A tectonic shift.

Push-push-push!

The groundwater that had been flowing in the ground gushed up.

As I said, magic has its opposites.

Like rock-paper-scissors.

A profound opposition that bites.

──────

Freeze < flame < water < freeze < flame < water…….

──────

It was.

Turning the battlefield to my advantage.

This is the best I can do, at this moment.

Fushushush─!

Fushushushush─!

Groundwater gushing everywhere.

It’s a rat poison to Karimzeva’s fire magic.

It’s an elixir for Senios’ freezing magic.

“……!!”

Noticing the change in the battlefield.

The two men’s reactions were clearly divided.

“…… brat!!!”

“You’re a strong support, Senior Lee Ho-yeol!”

I looked at those two and thought.

Marcelo, Matisse.

Or better yet, Vanguard.

“Anyway, someone hurry up.”

A battlefield like this is too daunting for me, who has no [natural enemies].

*.

Marcelo gritted his teeth.

It was the same as it had been with Vanguard.

“Chief Marcelo. That one!”

“Yes, sir. It’s the demons.”

The rift collapsed.

Demons pouring out of it.

Though the level of demons didn’t seem as strong as it had in Vanguard.

Their numbers were significant.

So many that there seemed to be no end to the procession.

Marcelo could feel it in his gut.

‘Are these many demons only moving for the resurrection of the Demon King?’

Whatever it takes.

No matter what, the demon must be stopped.

That was why he was worried.

‘It’s bad enough that we have to deal with Karimzeva, but now we have to deal with demons…….’

It’s not going to be easy.

Of course, we don’t know who is facing Karimzeva.

The Rift is a strange place.

Telepathy from the inside out was impossible.

But one thing was certain.

“Senior Bellier.”

“Yes?”

“I’ll pick up the pace.”

“Marcelo, the horde beyond that is……!”

Bellier blurted out.

I should have stopped him…….

Marcelo’s eyes were determined.

Swallowing hard, Bellier tightened his grip on the staff instead.

“Very well, we’ll wipe them out.”

The target was Karimzeva, the High Sinner.

We can’t be held back by a mere demon.

We must close the rift quickly and support the others.

.

.

. . .

Shapes of something pouring in from the distance.

Before I could see what it was.

A message flashed through your mind.

[Skill, ‘Natural Enemy’ is triggered].

……Wait.

I take back what I said about being overwhelmed.

I immediately declared to Karimzeva.

“You look good, Karimzeva.”

He was eagerly awaiting reinforcements.

“……It looks good?”

Unable to even imagine.

“The way you rationalize yourself in the name of truth. The way you rely on the demon in the end. The way you’re an ugly demon worshipper.”

Shamelessly.