Chapter 57 : Teaching someone a sweet lesson (3)

To hear Korean here.

I was surprised for a moment, but I had no intention of listening to their story.

Just answering them would be tantamount to giving them evidence to identify me.

Realizing their aim, I continued chanting the magic spell.

The magic circle, imbued with even greater mana, expanded in size, and within it, a vivid thunderbolt struck the users flying there.

Most of the users escorting the fighter jets turned pitch black, emitting dark smoke as they plummeted below.

Probably none among them would die.

Those capable of fighting at this altitude without any physical restrictions would quickly recover from the stunned state and regain

consciousness.

At least before hitting the ground.

After that, well… they’d figure out how to survive on their own.

Whether by casting <Flight> again or spreading the wings on their backs to brake their fall.

If their level was far lower than I anticipated and they ended up dying, it wouldn’t be my responsibility.

The reason was simple.

I wasn’t currently using my own mana.

As proof, the formula currently formed on my hand was a magic circle constructed solely using ‘mana contained within nature’.

The natural mana floating everywhere on this planet has much lower purity and stability compared to the mana drawn from my body.

However, this method had the significant advantage of allowing mana usage close to infinity.

The mana circulating in nature was an immense amount, dwarfing even my own superior mana pool, which several mages combined would

struggle to match.

Perhaps even a Dragon Lord, not just a descendant of dragons like me, would find comparison difficult.

After all, even a Lord couldn’t cause earthquakes across continents, trigger tsunamis, or create typhoons to sweep across a continent.

…No, maybe a Lord could?

Anyway, right now, I felt quite joyful.

It felt like a scientist discovering a resource that was both virtually infinite and efficient.

The fact that there were plenty of targets to relieve my stress on after a long time also contributed significantly to my cheerful mood.

Of course, I had discovered the possibility of manifesting magic this way long ago, but realizing its usefulness in actual combat was vastly

different from simply discovering its possibility.

‘Now I don’t need to worry about mana tracking anymore.’

If they were to have mages analyze the mana detected on the bodies of those who fell below, the answer would undoubtedly be that they were

struck by naturally occurring lightning.

This way, I wouldn’t leave behind the only piece of evidence that could potentially identify someone whose face and voice weren’t revealed.

‘Mere suspicion isn’t enough to pressure a ranker.’

Trying to pick a fight with a foreign ranker when the nation’s foundation is already shaking?

That’s practically suicidal.

Especially if it’s based solely on suspicion without evidence.

In such a situation, these people before me were truly remarkable.

To charge at a ranker knowing they would likely lose… As I thought this, the astonished expression of the man who appeared to be the leader

caught my eye.

“How…”

Perhaps because he was the leader and had some skill, he seemed to have defended against my magic using a barrier.

And behind them, the users I thought I had shot down moments ago reappeared.

Along with more comrades.

‘Reinforcements, huh.’

I examined the magic circle, glowing red from the strain.

If I hadn’t forcibly reduced the output midway, it probably would have exploded and even caused internal injuries to me, the caster.

Natural mana lacks stability.

The magic I just cast was <High-rank Magic: Thunderstroke>.

My skills weren’t so lacking that deploying a magic circle capable of casting a high-rank spell once would cause such strain.

The problem was the mana’s purity and stability.

‘Outputting anything above mid-rank magic seems dangerous. Pushing harder might overload it, and I could end up getting hit by my own

magic.’

I slightly raised my estimation of the opponents’ level and slightly lowered the level of magic I could employ.

What were the chances of me winning against them without using my main body’s mana?

The calculated result was fifty-fifty.

Meaning the win rate was about 50%.

A 50% chance was worth taking.

I was the golden-handed gacha game player who had even overcome odds of 0.0017%.

‘Well, if it really comes down to it, I can just use my real power.’

That aside, I couldn’t recall the last time I faced such an evenly matched situation, with a fifty-fifty chance of winning, either in the game or in

reality.

In the game, I had few rivals except for a select few.

After my body changed, I lived a life of constant oppression.

And after regaining my strength, I became a descendant of dragons reigning above all.

Exactly in the middle, a fight where I didn’t know if I would win or the opponent would win—I hadn’t experienced such a thing even once in

all that long time.

Either I was overwhelmingly dominant, or I was at the bottom.

My life had always been like that.

The pre-chanted magic circle glowed, emitting a specific miracle along the engraved mana pathways.

Void-like darkness dominated the surrounding several kilometers.

The area, specifically up to the horizon—the limit of my perception—became completely dark.

In the void-like darkness, which would take time for ordinary human eyes to adjust to, two vertical golden pupils shone brightly within.

The low-rank magic <Emptiness>.

Its effect was simple, as described.

It scatters void-like, pitch-black darkness around.

Within the range of this magic, one is literally enveloped in darkness deeper than night.

However, only the name of the magic was <Emptiness>; in reality, it had nothing to do with a void that swallows even light.

Because its function was simply to make things dark.

If it were magic that truly trapped opponents in an all-consuming void, <Emptiness> would have been at least Dragon Language Magic, not

low-rank magic.

This magic, typically used to massacre low-level monsters because ordinary people or low-level users/monsters couldn’t easily get used to the

darkness, now extended its influence several kilometers out thanks to borrowing nature’s vast mana.

But it was still just low-rank magic; its effect ended at creating darkness.

For Rangers and Rogues, who have numerous skills to secure night vision, a situation like this posed no penalty.

The same applied to Priests or Mages who could cast spells to brighten the view.

However, if there was something overlooked here—as mentioned earlier, many Chinese people are Wuxia enthusiasts.

Even if not enthusiasts, most would choose Wuxia over a fantasy world if given the choice.

Meaning, except for that one leader mage in front of me, everyone else was of the <Martial Artist> class, sometimes called <Musulga> in

Korea.

Just moments ago, when I launched magic at them—only that man used a barrier.

The rest assumed stances to increase defense or deflected the attack with abilities that looked like martial arts.

Naturally, I assumed most were mages capable of casting <Flight> magic, but observing with Dragon Eyes revealed that only one person was

actually chanting <Flight>—that leader figure.

That man was keeping all his allies afloat with his own power, except for some bird-folk users who could fly with their own wings.

No wonder the enemies hit by the lightning strike returned so quickly.

Since that person was chanting the flight magic, pulling up a few falling individuals would have been a piece of cake.

But I couldn’t help but question their method.

Only one person, the squad leader, handling most of the team’s flight…

…It meant if I just took out the head, the underlings would fall on their own.

As soon as I realized this fact, I revised my win probability from 50% to 95%.

If they were going to use such a strategy, they should have included at least five or six more mages.

Unless that man possessed abilities on par with mine.

Humans who conveniently fall to their deaths once the leader is cut down.

Like some kind of set menu.

My head, which had momentarily heated up, cooled down rapidly.

I had expected a fierce battle, but to think they didn’t even have the basics down.

I heard <Red Cliff> was suffering from a manpower shortage, especially in the mage department, but this wasn’t just severe; it was like the

mages had gone extinct.

Anyway, thinking further became bothersome.

I gathered natural mana to use transformation-type magic according to the plan I had devised.

‘Martial artists specialized in head-on combat wouldn’t have skills to brighten night vision.’

Basically, in any multi-on-one situation, including against mages, one must become utterly ruthless to seize victory.

Even more so against martial artists.

Therefore, I added one more spell on top.

Right before the eyes of those suddenly trapped in pitch-black darkness, white flashes appear and begin to dance.

The so-called blinding strategy.

Incidentally, those dancing lights also contain mana wavelengths that inflict blindness on the opponent.

Watching the disoriented enemies mill about, I prepared to strike their leader.

From afar, the jet fighter, unable to wait idly due to its structure and circling in the air, turned towards me.

They must have realized I had no intention of being captured quietly.

But before that, receiving the gaze of a human filled with terror, I chanted a proper offensive magic spell this time.

Its total output is pitifully weak compared to other low and mid-rank magic, but its penetration power, specialized for breaking barriers,

rivals that of high-rank magic. This spell should easily silence the dazed leader trembling over there.

 

A grotesque mass of mana shaped like sharp fangs flew towards the man’s neck.