episode_0073

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Magic applies to everything in this world.

This is the first sentence you read if you study the path of the wizard.

Magic is a method of manipulating magical power, and the method does not matter. In a broad sense, even individual potential falls into the category of magic, whether it is using a chant or a barrier ceremony.

However, realizing potential through magic is a very difficult task. Because all elements have to be implemented manually without the aid of a soul. It is common for deteriorated plates to pop out that are embarrassing to even compare to the original.

Therefore, most wizards dismiss that sentence from the first page of a magic textbook as nothing more than a dream.

Of course, there are always exceptions.

[Between good and good, what rises is scorching heat.]

“The mace of God will fall on you!”

Seong Hye-ji stared blankly at the results produced by the two different chants. A scorching hell spread across the ground and a huge meteorite fell from the sky, annihilating countless monsters.

Eonryeongsa Temple——I was caught up in Su Seol Ah’s magic and was absurdly eliminated. It was about an hour ago that I was selected for the same team. Hyeji couldn’t believe that there was no overlap in the magic used by the two people.

As befits her hero name, Eonryeongsa, Seol-ah used the word itself as a weapon. When she says it, it comes true. In some sense, it could be said to be omnipotent.

But what was more surprising to Hye-ji was Ra-on, who was following behind the almighty. Eonryeongsa is out of standard. It’s not something that happened yesterday or today, but Raon’s evaluation is that he was a half-penny magician who didn’t even have a main character.

“Okay, Raon. Next is the west. When this is over, let’s take a break.”

“Yes! Oh, no, yes!”

Raon wiped the sweat flowing down his face and silently prepared for the next chant. In fact, Raon himself had the limit of being able to calm down due to the overwhelming gap between him and Seolah.

The power of magic is different. The speed of completion is different. Now, two people are attacking at the same time, but that was entirely because Seol-ah was focusing on Ra-on.

That day, I heard from Dumping Cat about Raon’s envy and jealousy toward his own talent. If there is nothing you can do on your own, at least move forward with pride. Raon felt like his resolve was being tested.

“It looks like this area has been pretty much finished, so let’s take a break.”

“Yes! No, yes! No, huh? Yes?”

“… Just call me whatever you want.”

Ra-on stiffens and answers, and Hye-ji hesitates, unable to answer at all. Seol-ah sighed internally at the attitude of those two people, but answered while hiding it on the outside.

Because this kind of reaction was familiar to her.

“I told you. It’s impossible for you to make friends.”

Raon and Hyeji immediately prepared for battle at the sudden voice they heard. On the contrary, Seol-ah greeted the person with the voice with a smile on her dull-looking face.

“It’s Shina. Did you come here because you wanted to see your sister?”

“Who is your older sister? I was born earlier, right?”

“What if there is only a few minutes difference? Considering the difference in position between you and me, this is much more natural.”

What came over from another area was a team of three people: Trainer Su-ah Su-ah, Jabberwalker Ho Jeong-yeong, and Vengeful Demon Gu Myeong-cheol. Raon’s eyes widened in surprise at the fact that Jeongyoung was on the team.

“Jungyoung, weren’t you on the trainer’s team? Your partner is definitely──”

“Of course I lost, so I’m here. I’m sorry, but we’re on the enemy team now, so let’s talk later.”

“I quite like your personality of distinguishing between public and private matters.”

“It’s noisy. If it weren’t for a test like this, would I have teamed up with you?”

Although Jeongyoung was bickering with Shina, he did not relax his guarded stance. That firm response was, in a sense, kind. At least it meant that there was no intention to deceive or surprise them.

It wasn’t just Jeong Young. Both Shin-ah and Myung-cheol were exuding magical power to the point that it wouldn’t be surprising if they rushed at them right now.

“Are you going to fight with your sister? Isn’t that power a bit lacking?”

“It seems like they are harassing a lonely person with no friends, but they come rushing in. I’m the only one fighting with you.”

“Now we have one.”

“Ha. Even if he knows your true nature, will he still treat you as a friend?”

Seol-ah’s expression, which had maintained a relaxed attitude until now, became distorted for the first time.

At the same time, Raon, who was listening to the story next to him, also fell into confusion. Oh, if you’re a friend of Eonryeongsa, you’re Army, right? If Ami knew her true nature, she wouldn’t treat her as a friend? What is that nature in the first place?

Of course, the two of them did not give any opportunity to join in the conversation.

“Didn’t you hear from your father? This test, we have to go inside first.”

“Did you see me respond to that? They must have done something dirty again.”

“Maybe so. But you’ve been neglecting it all this time, right? Now, do you have any regrets about being the successor again?”

“Even if you give me a place like that in one truck, I refuse. This is a simple confirmation.”

“That you are far below me?”

There was no response to the last word. At the trainer’s signal, the two people waiting behind came forward.

“As I said, we will only prevent interference.”

“I don’t want anything more than that. Don’t worry about getting caught for no reason.”

“What on earth──Kyaaaah!?”

A black shadow shot out from under Raon, who couldn’t hold back and opened his mouth. If it had been an attack, the shadow that would have cut through the bodies of Ra-on and Hye-ji moved them far away.

“Now, let’s stick together. Little sister.”

“Ha… . It’s all good, but I’m really going to report this matter to my father.”

“Now let’s get into more trouble!”

Cooung. A huge clash of magical powers took place in the middle of the snowy field, accompanied by a roar and fluttering ice fragments.

***

Three hours had already passed and the test entered the second phase.

The boundaries between areas are dissolved and the number of team members increases to three. This simple yet significant change once again significantly changed the behavior of students taking the exam.

The biggest change is that the number of students who touch the boss monsters in the area has increased. Although it may be impossible with two people, it is possible with three people. Students with enough skills to do so were already moving toward the center of the area.

Naturally, traps targeting them were also set.

“With this, three teams, ine.”

“Wouldn’t this be enough? Let’s slowly change it to earning points.”

“I want to grab just one more team.”

A path leading to the central area of the jungle terrain. It was Hye-ran and Hwa-in having such a conversation under the dense vines.

The jungle terrain has many places for monsters to hide, such as swamps and giant trees. I thought that then the number of people coming to catch boss monsters whose location is clearly known would increase.

As a result, the idea was successful and Hyeran’s team was able to significantly reduce the competition. They had already captured the boss monster in the jungle a long time ago, but this was possible because the fact was not leaked out.

Neither Hwain nor Hyeran have anything to do with such auxiliary techniques. That became possible thanks to Marie, a girl who deals with curses, joining their team.

“… One more team, here.”

“Okay, I’ll come see you!”

“Be careful.”

Hyeran flies between the leaves, following the softly muttering voice. Despite its huge wings, the flight was strangely quiet and the reconnaissance so far had proceeded smoothly.

However, this time the enemy was on a slightly different level.

“I screwed up, I got caught!”

“It’s okay. Do you know the team?”

“Amiya!”

I flinch. Hwa-in and Marie reacted to the familiar name.

“Let’s step back. No matter how much you aim for first place, it’s not a good idea to fight now.”

“… Army, be strong. With this power, it’s impossible.”

“No. Let’s fight. In fact, if you don’t do it now, you might not be able to win.”

There are few students who know the strength of Ami as much as Hwain and Mari. Therefore, it was natural for those two to choose to retreat.

But Hye-ran did not want to miss this opportunity. Unlike Fire, who uses flames, or her, who flies through the air, Army, who is non-fighting, will be more affected by the swamp. There was another decisive reason.

“That team still has two people.”

“What!?”

Fafnir is needed to defeat the all-powerful Spiritualist.

In order to defeat the all-powerful Fafnir, you need a spirit messenger.

That was the common perception of Hwa-in and Hye-ran. In other words, in order to get first place, you had to fight against one of the two players who were not the best at least once during the test.

And the numerical superiority was one of the most important advantages among such ‘not perfect conditions’.

“If you don’t know, there is no reason for Seo-yoon to aim for first place. Therefore, Operation Fisherman, where Eonryeongsa and Army collide, will be impossible. We must not miss this opportunity to fight with numerical superiority.”

It was a reasonable decision for those who did not know the inside story of Kang Seo-yoon’s team. The painter nodded immediately, following his rational judgment.

The painter’s mind was still confused. I can’t believe I suddenly end up fighting ARMY like this. It hasn’t been long since I saw Ami running wild on a giant wild boar. Will we be able to defeat the Army that can easily take down such a huge monster?

“… Can this win?”

However, when people see someone who is more confused than they are, they tend to come to their senses to some extent. When Hwa-in saw Mari shaking as if her handmade cell phone was vibrating, he smiled without even realizing it.

Okay, so what if you don’t win? At least you will be able to know how much of a gap there is between you and ARMY. The artist encouraged himself and stood up, holding on to Marie.

“Let’s win.”

“… Yes!”

“That’s right. Because we brought in a secret weapon.”

“Well, don’t call me that… .”

Marie, perhaps embarrassed at being called a secret weapon, pulled down her hood to cover her face. Perhaps because of that, he didn’t notice that Hye-ran was looking at him with a teasing look on his face.

The painter, who would normally have stopped him with a bitter smile, did not say anything this time. A key card for Fine’s team to beat the top students. One of them was Marie, so if it was truly a secret weapon, it was a secret weapon.

“There are two people over there, so it’s not much different from what I was talking about. First of all, surprise attacks don’t work on ARMY.”

“So you’re saying they charge in at the same time at the maximum range?”

“Kang Seo-yoon won’t just sit around, but she’s not that good at mobility. It’s difficult to move quickly here, so Quicle will be able to finish it before Kang Seo-yoon comes.”

“Hey, I’ll do my best!”

After Marie had made up her mind, the three quickly moved through the jungle. This was because I was confident that I would be discovered by ARMY even at this distance anyway.

As soon as you arrive at the point mentioned along the way, disembark Marie and continue moving forward. Not long after, Ami and Seoyoon were captured.

“Haaaab!”

The greeting at the reunion was replaced with cheers. However, the two swordsmen’s attack with full speed was blocked by Army’s hands so easily and in vain.

“Oh, it’s Hwa-in and Hye-ran. Isn’t this also the boss mob over there?”

“What are you doing with your eyes closed? It’s obvious that there’s something over there, right?”

“That’s true.”

At the place where the boss monster was, I placed bait using Mari’s power. When Ami was suspicious, the two of them were heartbroken, but thanks to Seoyun’s persistence, they breathed a sigh of relief.

“Something is happening about 400 meters ahead at 1 o’clock.”

“You idiot, I told you to let anyone be your teammate!”

“If the level is not right, you can’t do it because you don’t have it. Anyway, it’s okay, so go and do something. Because I will be blocking this area.”

“If you get attacked by another team while you’re at it, you’ll blame yourself to death!”

As expected, Ami immediately realized where she had left Mari. Of course, that was also something that was assumed. Hwa-in tried to attack Seo-yoon out of courtesy, but was blocked by Ami.

It went smoothly up to this point. All that was left was to continue to withstand Army’s attacks.

” Fine, I’ll leave the gaps to you!”

“Let’s go as we practiced!”

“What, are you the ones wasting time?”

Hwa-in and Hye-ran were taking an overtly defensive stance. Only then did Ami realize that ‘something’ over there was coming to an end faster than Seoyoon’s arrival.

Of course, if those two are in an overt defensive stance, it won’t be easy to get to the other side anyway. So the choice to send Seoyoon was not a mistake.

In the end, all we have to do is destroy it before they do anything.

“Sone!”

Flames appear along the artist’s fingertips. It was intended to block Army’s retreat in line with Hyeran’s charge.

However, because Ami bounced Hyeran’s sword strike towards the flame, there was no choice but to extinguish the fire in the end.

“Now, now, this is not the end, is it?”

“Hiyak!”

Hyeran dodged Ami’s outstretched hand by briefly flying up. No, it didn’t just end with dodging, it spun around in the air and struck down the sword once again.

Hyeran’s potential is to become an angel. Although it looks like a human on the outside, it is no exaggeration to say that its physical structure has already surpassed that of humanity.

Contrary to the impression that the wings on its back would interfere with close combat, it responded by skillfully folding and unfolding them. Short flights from moment to moment, sudden changes in direction in the air, and unusual shifts in the center of gravity were like evidence that Hyeran was using her body properly.

Nevertheless, in the end, the combination of Hwa-in and Hye-ran was hastily created. There were limits to making up for the lack through practice and ideas.

“Ugh!”

“Oh, sorry!”

A kick of such power that it was hard to believe it came from such a small body struck Hyeran’s wings. Hye-ran dodged the same thing by folding her wings, but did not notice that Hwa-in was behind her.

Hwa-in was hit by a kick that came from a blind spot beyond the wing, rolling over and over again and flying away.

“It was good that I lessened the impact by jumping back in that brief moment. However, points will be deducted for missing the magical movement because it was hidden by Hyeran.”

“Cough, keke, keke… . Please do that later… .”

“Oh, sorry. I unconsciously did it as a habit.”

Ami scratching her head and Hwain collapsed. Hyeran got down between the two.

The reason Hyeran was able to at least respond to Army’s attacks so far was thanks to three-dimensional maneuver using her wings. If you’re tied up like this, no matter how armored your hero suit is, you won’t be able to withstand the army’s attacks.

Of course, Hyeran did not stand in Ami’s way out of desperation.

[Ah,──ah… !!]

Cooung. Words and magical power with ominous energy tightened around Ami.

It was a curse completed with an investment of magical power and time that was incomparable to the time when Genesis executive Lilith stopped moving.

“Wow, it’s been a while since I last saw you. This.”

Hyeran didn’t even know that the power of the curse existed until she heard about it from Hwa-in. However, despite being subjected to such an unidentified attack, Army seemed overly relaxed.

Could it be that Hwain’s hypothesis is wrong? With that kind of anxiety in mind, Hyeran swung her sword. As if it was natural, Ami also waved her hand.

Just a moment ago, Ami had deflected all of Hyeran’s sword strikes. No, it wasn’t just that he threw it away, he even picked it up and threw it halfway, like when extinguishing a firework’s flame. Of course, Ami has never had a hand injury during that time.

“Ugh, this hurts.”

But now blood was dripping from the tips of Ami’s fingers. It was a surprising achievement considering that I had never been able to inflict down damage until now.

“That’s a pretty good way to respond. Who thought? Hyeran is that you? Or a painter?”

“Of course it’s Hwain’s side.”

Army’s combat ability relies heavily on magical power. If magical power cannot be used, Army’s combat ability, especially physical ability, decreases sharply.

Of course, it is impossible to seal the opponent’s magical power during battle. If that were possible in the first place, most awakened people would be killed just for that.

Instead, what the Chinese chose was ‘interference’. It affects the magic power of the army when it attacks by interfering with it through a curse.

“Usually, when you punch with magical power, you put in as much effort into strengthening your body as you do into strengthening your muscles, right? I tried touching the magical power that strengthens the body.”

Physically awakened people are stronger than ordinary humans, but they have their limits. Naturally, the reaction of power that follows an awakened person’s direct attack cannot be ignored.

Marie’s curse dissipates some of the magical power used to strengthen the body. Originally, that difference would not have had much of an impact.

However, even the slightest recoil is fatal to the Army, whose bodies are much weaker than those of ordinary people, except for magical power.

The blood flowing down Ami’s arm right now wasn’t from being cut by Hye-ran. Ami’s arm could not withstand the recoil from Hyeran’s attack, and part of her arm was torn open, causing blood to flow.

Hwain’s countermeasures were successful in causing damage to Ami’s body.

“Please surrender. You know that this is the end, right? The next member will unconditionally choose you, so you don’t have to worry about being eliminated.”

“Well, that’s true too.”

Ami’s cursed body cannot launch powerful attacks. If she was prepared to commit suicide, she might be able to do something about Hye-ran, but there was no way Ami didn’t know that it meant nothing.

So the only reasonable course is to surrender and continue fighting as the same team. Hyeran believed that without any doubt.

Therefore, the reaction to the subsequent attack was delayed.

“What!?”

ARMY’s fist swings. I wonder if he is planning to do something like Donggwijin. I reflexively raised my sword, but it was clear to anyone that it was too late.

bang. Hyeran’s body flew and hit a tree as if she had been hit by a truck.

“It hurts~. As expected, it was too much to get used to it just once.”

“Uh, clack, uh, quip… .”

Just a moment ago, part of her arm was ruptured, but now Ami’s arm was slightly red. Compared to the damage Hyeran’s body received, it was practically nothing.

“How did you do it? not a big deal. I continued to adjust the output to suit the curse.”

It’s so easy, right? In a tone that could have been added, Ami explained what she had done.

The power of an attack, or even one that has already been launched, must be accurately reduced by the amount of magical power taken away by the curse. Hyeran could not even guess what level of magical power detection ability and martial arts knowledge was required to achieve this.

“If you were asking, “Why?” Because I said I would give Kang Seo-yoon first place. Isn’t it true that a man can’t say two things with just one bite?”

“Man, yes man… . man… ?”

Hwa-in was watching from the side, even the part where Hye-ran made a dumb expression. Thinking that the number of victims(?) of that strength that seemed to destroy even common sense had increased, the Chinese felt a strange sense of kinship.

See, it’s impossible. Hwa-in, who was about to say that, thought that the ending might end up being even more painful. Instead, I decided to be satisfied with the fact that I had inflicted serious injuries on Ami’s body.

I’m sure the next time he will be stronger than now.

“I lost, I lost. If I could make it that far, there was no chance of winning from the beginning.”

“That’s not necessarily true. I actually think it was a pretty effective method.”

“I don’t want to hear those words from the person who won. Come on, finish it quickly.”

Hyeran said that with a look of abandon, and Ami moved closer as if responding.

I guess it’s my turn next. The painter thought that way calmly.

“Aaaah!”

“Ugh, Seoyoon!?”

When Ami heard the scream echoing through the jungle, she quickly ran out.

“… What should I do?”

“Do you know how to use recovery magic?”

“Is that possible?”

In the end, the two people left had no choice but to lie still and desperately hope that someone would come.

*****