Archmage (3)

Archmage (3)

The reason for bringing the Archmage’s family was extremely simple.

‘If the Archmage really made a contract with the Heaven God Cult because of his family.’

He brought something that could nullify the contract, intending to avoid a battle for now.

But since the other side tried to kidnap Deren’s family, it’s no longer possible to just let it slide.

The moment I realized that a peaceful resolution was no longer possible, I immediately prepared to cast magic.

‘Well, that’s fine. I was curious about how strong this so-called Archmage would be anyway.’

I’ve been wondering how strong the greatest magician of the era would be.

As I felt interest and a rising competitive spirit, lifting the corners of my mouth.

I notice the Archmage hesitating as he looks at me.

‘I guess it’s because I have his family with me.’

It was an obvious story if it was obvious.

The reason for joining the Heaven God Cult was ‘because they threatened by holding family members hostage,’ so if I now threaten them with those hostages.

They would have no choice but to be swayed as I want.

Realizing this, I initially considered using it to easily defeat the Grand Magician.

However, if I were to defeat the Grand Magician that way, I couldn’t achieve my goal of ‘improving my magic skills’.

So, at least at first, I planned to confront them head-on without such tricks.

‘If it doesn’t work out, I can always threaten them with hostages then.’

As always, it’s ideal to have a backup plan.

I decided to do so and slowly walked forward while manifesting my magic.

‘There’s no need for long words.’

No matter how much we talk, we won’t reach each other, and we’re going to kill each other anyway.

The probability of exchanging words being meaningless was high.

So, thinking that I should focus on killing the opponent now, I lightly manifested a point explosion.

– Kwaaaang!

The moment I manifested the magic, a huge explosion occurred in the air where the Grand Magician was located.

Looking at the intensely shaking mana, I raised the corner of my mouth, realizing that I could inflict ‘not bad damage’ with just one point explosion, which was unexpected.

‘It’s just that those Heaven God Cult guys are too tough, not that the point explosion is weak.’

As I was about to continue my attack while looking at the Grand Magician’s shaking barrier.

The Grand Magician must have succeeded in manifesting magic.

Huge thorns began to spring up all around me.

Thorns made of intense mana.

Although quite powerful, they weren’t too difficult to break down when they had a physical form.

I forcibly distorted the mana of those thorns, shattering them all into pieces.

Perhaps because I broke the spell so easily.

The Archmage’s expression changed slightly.

Finding this reaction quite interesting, I decided to start the battle in earnest now.

‘It would be best to use the newly learned spells if possible.’

Lightning Mare, a spell created by maximizing time distortion and power.

Deciding to see if these two spells were practical in actual combat.

I quickly approached the Archmage using space compression magic.

“… How dare you!”

Whether surprised or because the magic I was using was unfamiliar.

The Archmage uttered only simple words while simultaneously casting dozens of spells.

Launching countless spells to attack me.

‘Certainly, each spell is decent, and the level is high, but.’

I didn’t get the feeling that they were as skilled in combat as the High Priest I had faced before.

As I was wondering about this oddity.

A thought crossed my mind.

‘Perhaps the title of Archmage is not held by the greatest magician of the era, but is a product of politics?’

It was a possibility.

Archmages are not designated by heaven pointing them out.

Rather, they are determined through decision-making processes by magic societies or heads of magical families.

‘Of course, they can’t just choose anyone, so they select from high-ranking magicians who have accumulated remarkable achievements visible to the eye.’

Since humans are the ones choosing, it’s impossible to know if the selected Archmage is truly the greatest magician of their time.

Moreover, since the candidates are ‘recommended by magic societies or prestigious magical families’.

I thought there might be a high probability that they are individuals conducting magical research from safe positions, rather than those active in the field.

‘Is that why?’

The Archmage before me was indeed casting high-level spells without incantations in rapid succession.

But that was all. Their combat level itself was not much different from that of an Academy student.

I let out a bitter laugh at this disappointing realization, then shook my head.

Upon calming down and thinking about it, this result was somewhat expected.

‘The fact that an Archmage’s family could be kidnapped by others already speaks volumes about their level.’

Despite being at war, their abnormally lax prevention and response made me think this happened because they had little to no practical experience.

I judged the Archmage before me to be nothing more than a greenhouse flower.

‘Well, I guess this is why the Heaven God Cult can run rampant without much opposition.’

Thinking that this explains why there was hardly any notable activity from Archmages until the latter half of the novel, I chuckled.

Then I slowly uttered a spell.

“Time Distortion.”

With that single utterance, all of the Archmage’s spells forcibly disappeared.

I sighed as I looked at the Archmage, whose eyebrows were twitching.

I slowly extended my hand and began to cast the newly learned spell.

“Lightning Mare.”

A lethal spell created by combining point explosion with an illusion maze, designed solely to maximize its power.

As I was about to unleash this spell on the Archmage.

An even better idea crossed my mind, so I canceled the spell and replaced it with a point explosion mixed with penetration.

-Kwaaang!

With a powerful explosion, the Archmage falls to the ground.

Unlike the Archbishop or Bishop, perhaps due to the lack of strong regenerative abilities, there was no movement after the fall.

I slowly approached and spoke.

“Let me make a proposal.”

“……”

Whether it was because he was on the brink of death, there was no response.

I calmly smiled at him and said.

“I’ll guarantee the safety of your family and yourself. From now on, do as I say.”

“……”

The reason for keeping this guy alive is simple.

To absorb both the Magic Association and Archmage factions at once by using the Archmage.

Thinking that this would surely give the Heaven God Cult a headache, I took out a potion.

‘Then, after locking this guy in the Illusion Library and extracting his experience and knowledge.’

I decided to leave him alone and wait until ‘the Heaven God Cult approaches the Archmage again’.

I laughed.

‘It might be more appropriate to call him the Great Bait instead of the Archmage from now on.’

I looked down at the slowly recovering Archmage and continued speaking slowly.

“Let’s start by writing the contract.”

With those words, I summoned the spare contract I had prepared and began to fill in its contents.

*

There was some resistance.

But thanks to a bit of pain and threats using their family as hostages, which worked better than expected.

I was able to achieve my goal more easily than I thought.

While I let out a hollow laugh at the absurdly simple conclusion.

I felt that I had become considerably stronger as I wiggled my finger.

‘Of course, it might also be because the opponent was too easy.’

Even considering this, my own growth would account for the largest proportion.

As I decided to use this opportunity to steal higher magic knowledge from the Archmage, I was smiling.

When I realized I could hear the voice of Deren’s sister, Chloe, from behind.

Realizing it was going to be extremely annoying, I immediately tried to return to the mansion.

But before that, Chloe blurted out, ‘If you run away, I’ll come to your house!’

So I had to cancel the space compression magic and face Chloe.

‘This is even harder than dealing with the Archmage.’

Thinking it was quite troublesome, I made eye contact.

Chloe forcibly hugged me and started ruffling my hair randomly.

“I don’t know why our youngest has become so strong. Are you really our little one?”

“……”

It’s so overwhelming that I feel like I’m going to lose my mind.

I was trying hard to suppress my urge to run away when Chloe continued speaking to me with a chuckle.

“Come here, and your big sister will give you a kiss as a reward for doing well. Come on, come on!”

Unable to endure this any longer, I shook my head and said.

“I have an urgent matter to attend to, so I’ll be leaving first.”

Only then did Chloe seem to come to her senses. She hesitated for a moment, then slowly looked around and nodded.

“Seeing our youngest after so long, I momentarily forgot. Yes, it would be better to sort out the situation first.”

Looking at the completely destroyed surroundings, I briefly said.

“There’s no need to clean up. All of this was done by the Grand Magician.”

Deciding to shift all responsibility to the Grand Magician and the Heaven God Cult, I picked up the sprawled Grand Magician.