Chapter 400

Words : 2438 Updated : Oct 13th, 2025

Sempas steadied his breathing. It was his old habit before a difficult battle to calm his mind, but now he had to steady his breath for a different reason. The intense toxins dispersing in the air were penetrating his lungs. Sempas stared straight ahead. There stood a man staring at him. “Amar Chubaka.” A black magician from a minority ethnic group in the southern jungle. Though low in magical hierarchy, he was a man who used tribal spells and curses mixed with magic. And now he was also a traitor who had betrayed the New Magic Tower magicians. “I never thought there would still be an informant inside.” Sempas couldn’t hide his dejection as he watched the overflowing ley lines. His team had safely reached the location of the ley lines while avoiding the enemies’ traps and there they discovered the remnants of the Black Dawn Society at work, and meant to fight them. But Amar Chubaka, who had been hiding his identity until then, revealed his true colors. He activated his magic the moment everyone’s attention was on the Black Dawn Society. Poison, decay and large-scale curse magic. Magicians who couldn’t respond in time collapsed foaming at the mouth. Even the magicians who barely managed to respond due to their distance couldn’t avoid being poisoned. ‘Was it a mistake to let our guard down because he was a survivor who returned from the mansion?’ He shouldn’t have trusted anyone but himself. He made the biggest mistake at the most crucial moment. The result was the destroyed ley line visible over there. ‘If there’s any consolation, the other two places still have intact ley lines.’ Roina and Arpa went to one side, Rudger to the other. They might be able to stop it but he had to consider the worst possibility. What if those places were just as dangerous, only not yet manifested? ‘This one’s failed. Then I should at least go support the others.’ However, he couldn’t do that with an enemy right in front of him. Now that Amar Chubaka had revealed his identity, he intended to eliminate all witnesses here. Without defeating Amar, who was responsible for the poison magic, detoxification would be difficult. There was only one path available. “Amar. I’ve wanted to face you at least once.” “Stop the bravado.” Amar glared at Sempas with eyes full of whites. “You’re currently poisoned by my toxin. It’s a poison that gives you tearing pain throughout your body when you use mana.” Amar uses a peculiar poison that magicians find difficult to counter, a cursed poison. This poison inflicts pain like joints breaking and muscles tearing throughout the body the moment one uses mana. It doesn’t suppress mana, nor does it eat away at the body, it simply converts the strange sensation of using mana entirely into pain but for magicians, it was terrible. If breathing feels like your lungs are being torn apart, no one would want to breathe. It was the same for magicians. Magicians who didn’t want pain suppressed their mana, and naturally had to move according to Amar’s will. “Pain? What pain.” But Sempas mocked Amar. He deployed his spell formula by raising mana as if it were natural. Just from that, pain so intense it made his vision turn white was felt. Sparks flew before his eyes. His flesh and instincts screamed to stop the magic immediately but Sempas ignored it all. “I don’t even feel ticklish.” The poison only delivers pure pain, there’s no resistance to raising mana. In that case he could endure this level of pain as much as needed. “Indeed. The nickname ‘Mad Dog’ wasn’t an exaggeration.” Amar raised green magical power in both hands. The power dripped onto the ground like sticky tar. -Hiss. The ground touched by the magical power turned black with decay while emitting white smoke. White smoke continued to rise, filling the surroundings with poison mist. The moment you breathe that in, from then on this fight becomes a battle against time. “Let’s go!” Sempas charged at Amar despite seeing this. * * * The metal bullet shot at sonic speed drew a long tail, creating a line in the air. It was an attack so fast that by the time you perceive it with your eyes, it’s already at point-blank range. Belkart was confident his magic would hit Rudger but he doubted his own eyes at what happened next. “What?” The railgun’s bullet that was about to hit Rudger’s body curved and passed by him. The trajectory of the electric current that had been straight also showed traces of having bent significantly in the middle. ‘He curved an attack of this power so easily?’ It wasn’t deflected by countering. To curve it that smoothly, it was literally impossible without distorting space. Distorted space? “Ah, so that’s what it was.” Belkart realized what miracle Rudger’s shadow had created. “Amazing. Magic that inevitably twists regardless of the magnitude of force.” The sight of Rudger with black shadows rippling around his clothes was quite impressive. Probably what made this possible was the power held by his familiar. Though they were enemies at this moment, he couldn’t help but admire such magic. “If I’d known this would happen, I should have gotten closer to you before.” “Don’t say things you don’t mean.” “I was just saying.” -Crash! The metal cubes gathered and eventually created a huge pillar that dropped toward Rudger. Rudger tried to dodge, but his body wouldn’t move. The iron powder that had been floating around had stuck to his body and transformed into a net, binding him. Just as the massive weight of the steel pillar was about to crush Rudger, Rudger’s form contracted into a point in the air. ‘He disappeared?’ Unlike before when he simply concealed his appearance, he literally vanished like a mirage. The metal net crumbling was proof of that. Belkart was even more perplexed. Right after, Belkart could only let out a hollow laugh at the presence he felt behind him. “Now you’re crossing space too?” -Clang! Rudger’s swung staff tried to slash Belkart’s back but Rudger’s attack was blocked by the cubes rotating around Belkart. However, Rudger’s attack wasn’t simply swinging a staff. -Swoosh! The black cloak spread left and right transformed into beast-like claws trying to pin down Belkart from both sides. Just as Belkart was about to defend, an intense light burst before his eyes. Rudger had used light magic to steal his vision. Belkart, who momentarily lost his sight, was slow to react. -Boom! The shadow arms compressed and crushed Belkart’s body. Just as it was about to kill him, Belkart’s voice rang out from inside. “This is rather dangerous.” -Crash! Suddenly, steel spikes shot up through the shadow hands. Rudger stepped back, sensing danger. ‘I tried to end it with that previous attack.’ Belkart, protected by countless cubes around him, was an impregnable fortress difficult to penetrate. That’s why he planned to end it in one go with a spatial movement surprise attack but Belkart proved why he was a First Order as he emerged unscathed even from that attack. Parts of Belkart’s exposed skin were covered in steel plates. He had hidden thin metal under his clothes and even now, the area of metal covering his skin was continuously expanding. -Boom! A vortex flew in and struck Belkart’s solar plexus. It was a spell shot by Derek, with enough power to cleanly cut even a large boulder but the steel covering Belkart’s body was fine even after taking that hit. There were scratches here and there, but that was all. Even those scratches were instantly regenerated as the empty spaces were filled. Surrounding metal pieces gathered and layered one by one over Belkart’s body. “Tickles.” As he muttered that, a steel helmet covered Belkart’s face with a click. Gray eyes flashed within the black helmet. -Crackle. Purple sparks flew over the dull-colored armor. The steel armor began to develop magnetism, and drawn by that magnetic force, surrounding cube fragments gathered on his back to form wings, angel wings made of steel feathers. With that, his magic was complete. Fusion magic [Steel Thunder God] -Screech! The thunder dragon and metal bird responded to their master’s call and took positions on either side of him. Around them, countless metal cubes were rotating following the magnetism. -Rumble. The current overflowing from Belkart’s armor became lightning and thundered. The magicians lost their fighting spirit at that overwhelming sight. “We, we can’t win.” “How are we supposed to beat that? That’s a monster.” Belkart reached out toward such magicians. Right after, the cubes floating in the air following predetermined orbits suddenly stopped. The magicians on the cliff swallowed their breath. The number of cubes was incomparably greater than what had been shot until now. If these all fell at once, it would be impossible to block. “Block it!” Derek and Rudger tried to stop it, but the thunder dragon and metal bird interfered in between. The thunder dragon lunged at Rudger with its jaws, and the metal bird swung its blade-like wings trying to cut down Derek. “Stop!” At that moment, Varenchina, riding Derek’s familiar, approached right up to Belkart and swung her sword. Belkart quietly watched Varenchina’s form before extending his left hand. It was his bare hand wearing a gauntlet, not holding the Magnetar Sword. -Clang! The aura and armor collided. Varenchina tried to cut through the armor right there but widened her eyes at the resistance felt from the sword. It wouldn’t cut. “How can you block an aura with bare hands...?” “Did you think you could win in close combat?” Belkart mocked Varenchina and swung his leg. At the attack aimed at her brow, Varenchina barely threw her head back. Her spine chilled at the sight of the greave passing before her eyes. ‘What power...!’ Her cheek tingled even though she dodged. And this was with a knight’s body. Varenchina gritted her teeth, took a stance, and swung her sword again. This time Belkart didn’t even take a defensive stance. He spread both arms wide as if telling her to try it. -Slash! Purple trajectories engraved in the air slashed all over Belkart’s body. Sparks flew as metal met metal along with marks of aura but it couldn’t leave any wounds on Belkart. Rather, the blade carrying the aura had its teeth chipped. The steel armor compressed to its limit by magic had an unbelievable hardness that was enough to block even a high-ranking knight’s aura. “Now that the strength test is done, disappear.” Belkart swung the Magnetar Sword in his hand horizontally. Varenchina defended by holding her sword vertically. -Boom! Varenchina’s aura-wrapped sword shattered into pieces and scattered in the air. Varenchina looked at the scattering sword fragments with disbelieving eyes. If Derek’s familiar hadn’t pulled back then, Varenchina would have died to the following swing of the Magnetar Sword. Belkart looked at Varenchina and muttered in a regretful voice. “I tried to end it with that just now, you’re lucky. I’ll praise you for not letting go of your sword until the end. But what can a knight without a weapon do now?” The broken sword’s hilt was gripped in Varenchina’s hand. Even in that situation she hadn’t let go of the sword, but her wrist that couldn’t withstand the impact was red and swollen. “Watch your subordinates get crushed from up there.” Belkart dropped the steel meteors. The mass bombardment that had gained acceleration multiple times in the air fell onto the cliff. The shields desperately spread by the magicians were nothing more than paper. The defensive magic shattered helplessly like thin glass, and metal pieces wedged through the gaps to fall. Along with the sound of explosions, dust clouds rose and screams mixed in and even knights with sturdy bodies weren’t unscathed. Even knights called superhuman disappeared, trampled by the overwhelming mass violence. On top of the cliff marked with countless crater marks as if meteors had fallen, only red bloodstains that seemed to have once been human remained. But Belkart wasn’t satisfied even with that sight. “Hmm. Was the power still lacking?” Though he had eliminated all the annoying ones, the cliff was still barely maintaining its form. Though the situation was already favorable, Belkart didn’t let his guard down. He wanted to maintain this momentum and secure victory. “Let’s end this with this.” Belkart concentrated on one magic while squeezing out massive magical power. “Holy shit.” A curse flowed from Derek’s mouth that usually spoke politely. The scale of that magical power felt on the skin, the size of that spell formula being realized in the air. “...It’s coming.” Large-scale magic that can only be used from Lexer magician level. Magical power encompassing space rang through the atmosphere and gathered into one point in the air. For a moment space rippled and it felt like the sky had darkened. No. It wasn’t just a feeling. Under the wide open sky, there was a massive cuboid blocking all the soft light. A huge black metal with strange patterns engraved on its surface glowing in gold was slowly falling from the sky toward the ground. 6th Tier Metal Magic [Heaven-Falling Gold and Jade] No one dared try to block it. That was the same for Rudger. Trying to block something like that would rather crush this side. “Dodge!” With Derek’s warning, the falling metal passed by them. Boom───!!! The falling metal pulverized the huge cliff like powder the moment it touched it and collapsed it. There was no explosion or anything. The mass beyond common sense simply turned everything it touched to powder. Right after, blue magical power welled up like groundwater from below the collapsed cliff. “It’s over.” With this, the third of five ley lines was destroyed. The ley lines would distort and all mysterious phenomena covering this land would disappear. Now the Kasar Basin would collapse but after some time passed, Belkart sensed something strange. “Why hasn’t it collapsed yet?” Three ley lines were destroyed. That alone should have made the ground distort and the earth split, but this land was still fine. “Could it be?” Belkart’s gaze turned to where another ley line was. -Gone. One of the ley line pillars that should have been shooting up in the distance was missing. That direction was where the Secret Mansion had been.

Chapter 400

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