Chapter 265

Chapter 265. Promised Counterattack (2)

On the artificial island, four towers were constructed specifically for mages.

All these towers relentlessly unleashed various magics at the invaders.

Magic circles installed in each of the towers were activated.

Adding to the chaos, mages gathered on the top floors continued to cast attack magics without pause.

At the 3 o’clock direction, ice storms swept through; rocks rose up from the 7 o’clock direction, overturning the area, and the 10 o’clock direction was filled with fiery whirlwinds spreading flames in all directions.

On this relatively narrow piece of land, indeed, all kinds of chaos erupted.

Yet, visually stunning as it was, it failed to inflict substantial damage on the invaders.

“Raise the barrier! Show them the power of the tanks!”

“Maintain formation!”

“This is the moment we’ve saved this skill for, you bastards!”

The defensive formation created by players affiliated with Temoria, spearheaded by shields, managed to effectively counter the magic attacks.

Upon realizing the mages’ counterattack, they quickly organized their formation.

The golden wall constructed by hundreds of gold-rank tankers was incredibly sturdy.

The wide-area magics released by 3rd and 4th-grade mages were not sufficient to break it.

Had the mages combined their strength to unleash more overwhelming power, the outcome might have been different.

“What are you doing there?!”

“Fire attribute mages, move now!”

“Get out of the way!”

“Is this what you call using magic?!”

“What does it matter? Stop interfering!”

Cooperation was a word scarcely found among the research mages gathered on the top floor of the second tower.

This was expected.

Mages had lived long, believing in their superiority.

For them, personal advancement and achievements were of utmost importance, not collaboration or consideration for others, and certainly not humility towards their own skills.

Finding a mage with these virtues was as challenging as finding a needle in a desert.

Moreover, their lack of experience was evident.

Having long enjoyed superior status and privileges, they had never experienced an attack of this sort, nor had they ever trained to deal with such situations.

Their individualistic nature caused them to find other mages’ magical methods irritating.

This led to a vicious cycle, where they returned to doing everything solo.

In addition, quite a few mages had not yet arrived.

“Where is Irel? When is Irel coming?!”

Among them was Irel, the vice-tower master who should have been organizing the mages in the tower master’s absence.

Without a superior present to command them, there was confusion and chaos.

‘With the situation in shambles like this!’

She still hadn’t arrived.

She must be buried in her study, lost in experiments.

What a damned self-centered mage!

In that moment, Robbins, who momentarily forgot he was equally arrogant as Irel, couldn’t hold back his frustration any longer and shouted.

“Go and drag her here if you have to!”

“Yes, yes, sir!”

Robbins’ disciple quickly ran down the stairs in response.

However, moments later, the disciple came shooting back up.

Or rather, just the head of the disciple flew up.

Tracing the trajectory of the head revealed a fountain of blood, the most definitive proof that the mage’s head and body had been severed.

Robbins froze in place at witnessing this.

At that moment, an unfamiliar mana, previously undetected by any detection magic, swiftly began to encroach upon the vicinity.

Mages who had been shooting at the exterior wall with magic froze in unison.

But before they could even turn their bodies around, red threads of mana coiled around the necks of about a hundred mages in the room.

Swick.

A sharp yet soft sound tickled their ears.

Splat.

Red blood once again spurted into the air.

With a thud.

Dozens of heads that should have remained attached to their bodies fell to the ground.

As the red mana materialized, it became clear the mages couldn’t protect their necks.

The scene revealed many truths, swiftly grasped by Robbins, who shouted.

“It’s a Dominator! Establish a safe area!”

Upon comprehending the situation, the mages turned their focus inward rather than outward.

However, some, upon hearing the word ‘Dominator’, immediately fled the tower without a glance back.

They escaped, choosing to save their own lives.

‘Those, those bastards!’

Briefly grinding his teeth at the sight, Robbins turned to look at someone calmly ascending the stairs.

It was time to concentrate on the immediate threat rather than wasting time catching those who had fled.

The figure who had abruptly attacked them was a burly man.

Clad in black outfit, black pants, black chest armor, and between his black hair, golden eyes stood out.

A symbol floating above his head signified he was an outsider.

Bearing in mind his mana domination ability, it likely was the outsider who had allegedly snuck a look at Irel’s records.

‘Even if he dominates mana, how did he enter the magic tower?’

Various magical formations were installed to protect the exterior of all magic towers.

While they operated, no unauthorized outsider could enter the tower.

Considering the huge mana circulating within the tower, it seemed the protective magical formations were still functioning properly.

Yet, despite this, the outsider had entered the tower. How?

‘Is there an insider?’

‘Or perhaps he possesses an item embodying special powers.’

‘I can’t engage in battle with him behind me. I need to handle him first.’

The mages assembled on the top floor each mused over the outsider.

Meanwhile, the outsider, who had severed the heads of dozens, went on to scrutinize the mages present.

“Ninety-two.”

Before they could ponder what he meant, numerous magics converged on him.

Water-type mages launched a preemptive attack.

‘He’s electric-type.’

Fundamentally, his mana was tilted towards the fire attribute.

Even at a high-rank, one couldn’t ignore elemental dominance.

The water-type mages naturally assumed the forefront, capitalizing on their elemental advantage.

Thus, the air filled with magics solely targeting the outsider.

However, the outsider lightly sprang up, evading the magics.

“Did you think I’d miss?”

Some mages quickly adjusted the direction of their magics.

It wasn’t the best choice. The magics targeting the outsider shattered.

Among them, four vomited blood due to the rebound of breaking magics.

Six managed to avert the shock by releasing their mana prematurely.

“Ugh!”

Seven mages couldn’t evade the throwing daggers the outsider cast and had their heads pierced.

“Eighty-five.”

Shortly afterward, the outsider again uttered another mystifying number.

But instead of dwelling on his words, the mages’ attention shifted to the ground.

Crackle-!

Sparks rose from the newcomer’s feet and branched out like a spider web in all directions.

‘Lightning Prison!’

A magic akin to a pitfall trap, it suggested an area difficult to escape unaided.

While it didn’t possess lethal power, akin to burning flowers, it could paralyze limbs.

Yet, depending on the implementer’s skill, it could expand endlessly, posing a threat.

The worst-case scenario was if this was his primary mana.

‘Damn it! The domination is too unyielding to dismantle!’

To counter him, they needed someone of Irel’s caliber or equivalent strength.

Unfortunately, Irel was one of those strong enough, yet she still hadn’t shown up.

‘What could possibly be keeping her from coming?!’

Consequently, there was no preemptive countermeasure for this magic.

The only solution was to endure the manifested magic.

One had to employ equivalent-grade magic to shield themselves.

Which meant, without a Level 5 mana inscribed in one’s Mana Accumulation Tool, avoiding the Lightning Prison was impossible.

“Aaah!”

“Ugh! Please save us!”

Unsurprisingly, a fair number of mages collapsed under the Lightning Prison.

Trembling in paralysis, ensnared by red mana, they disintegrated inches apart.

“Fifty-seven.”

Again, the number repeated.

Mages who withstood the Lightning Prison realized the digits denoted their dwindling count.

Worse still, a few couldn’t refrain from retaliating irrationally.

“You’re audacious!”

“I’ll make you beg for your life!”

The fire-attribute mages were particularly brash.

Would they cower before a fake created by divine entities?

They harnessed their talent in fire to press the outsider aggressively.

Fire arrows and spears, flame spheres causing massive explosions, even blazing pillars—

the top floor was suddenly saturated with fire magic.

Alarmed, mages of other attributes protested loudly against the senseless display.

“You fools!”

“E-Escape! Run away!”

Why cast fire before an electric-type possessed of mana domination?

It was absolutely the wrong move.

Manifesting this, the outsider’s Flame Strike grew exponentially, engulfing the surrounding flames.

Those without a Level 5 mana tool began burning alive in the blaze’s blooms.

A few, positioned near the exterior wall, jumped out to momentarily keep alive but,

Thunk, thunk.

“Cough!”

They didn’t evade the flying spears thrown by the outsider.

Leaping out of the tower, each was intercepted in turn in the blink of an eye.

“Eleven.”

Remaining mages sent their best magics at the outsider, but none reached him.

“Urgh!”

The evasive target moved with a swift unpredictability rendering him unattainable to the eye.

Most hadn’t even seen the outsider’s movement.

“Guh!”

Yet, mages invariably collapsed at spots where he seemed to have passed.

“Nine.”

From over a hundred mages, the number dwindled to just nine in mere minutes.

Watching colleagues crumble with their chests punctured, fear imbued in Robbins’ eyes.

He sensed imminently how close death could be upon him.

“Five.”

The number shrank constantly, exacerbating the terror.

In a way, it allowed understanding of Irel’s warning in the past.

Irel had emphatically advocated for evacuation and preemptive strikes, her expressions, and tone echoing vividly in memory.

– We must eliminate them before they grow stronger!

– It’s time to invade their base!

The forward invasion to Earth had been hastened by that reasoning.

Hyunwoo hadn’t specifically chosen the mage’s stronghold knowing that but had indeed chosen a fitting target for retaliation.

Though Robbins wasn’t aware, he certainly recalled mocking Irel back then.

‘She exaggerates merely because she was utterly defeated.’

Such was his disdainful disparagement back then.

Having experienced it firsthand, understanding dawned today.

‘An artificially created superior being under divine protection.’

Even the fiercest beast isn’t daunting unless grown.

However, a predator surviving to maturity amidst enemies turns sovereign of the forest.

That’s what this outsider embodied most aptly.

An anomaly between a knight and a mage in unripe state, but grown mature, he became an anomaly, both a mage and knight.

This monster claimed the lives of hundreds of mages, and soon Robbins would deposit his life as well.

Unable to endure rising horror, Robbins broke into cold sweat.

Amidst a world ablaze, a murmuring voice reached him.

“One.”

What followed was all Robbins absorbed thereafter—a spear encased in intense sparks approached within sight.

It was the final scene he remembered.

Damned System

TL’s Corner:

It’s a bloodbath. Will this novel get a manhwa in the future???