Magic Survival (8)

Edna, who expended a large amount of mana to heal the patients, was safely transferred to the emergency room.

Of course, it was just a simple mana exhaustion, so after receiving recovery potions, she was immediately moved to a nearby hospital room.

"Ugh... Feels like my head's gonna explode..."

It didn't take even an hour for her to regain consciousness.

Thanks to immense mana capacity and outstanding recovery ability, it was a piece of cake for her.

"Are you okay?"

Upon waking up, Edna was greeted by Anella's face. Although she hid her true identity, Edna could see through it clearly.

"Why are you here?"

"I came along too."

"Oh, is that so?"

"By the way..."

Anella anxiously glanced behind her, as if urging Edna to look in that direction as soon as possible.

"Huh?"

There, someone unfamiliar was watching a broadcast through a screen on the wall.

"Are you awake now?"

It was Princess Hong Bi-Yeon.

"Why are you here?"

Surprised by her unexpected appearance, Edna asked with a slightly puzzled expression, but Hong Bi-Yeon ignored the question and went straight to the point.

"What's happening in Magic Survival right now?"

"Oh, that."

It was a completely new development in a different direction from the original novel.

In the original, there was no infiltration of dark mages in the Magic Survival, nor did Anella provide any help, and Hong Bi-Yeon's involvement... was all non-existent.

But this was not a story created by the characters, but the real reality created by her and the other party.

Now, even such shocking situations didn't feel new to Edna.

"What else could it be? Obviously."

Edna casually remarked and got off the bed. Then, she began stretching, and said, "It's the dark mages again. Those cockroach-like pests infiltrated again. Don't they ever get tired of it? Maybe they're here too?"

Anella flinched.

When Edna said that on purpose, Anella nervously glanced around, twirling her fingers.

It was said that she was much older than an average student... Was she in her 30s or 40s?

It was amusing that she didn't look like it at all.

"Well, you must know about this kind of thing too judging by your interest in Ahjussi's well-being?"

…

Edna tried to speak with a sharp voice, but Hong Bi-Yeon's red eyes were unwavering and calm.

Helplessly, Edna bowed her head and said.

"Actually, I don't really know either. What's happening inside. All I can tell you is... The dark mages who infiltrated into the virtual world can actually attack the mages. Moreover, the level of danger could be substantial. He's at least a minimum of Level 5."

"Why aren't they stopping the competition?"

"They can't. They created a completely separate space, so bringing them back requires casting. They said there could be casualties if they did that, so the principal assigned the task of dealing with the dark mages to Ahjussi."

Hong Bi-Yeon's eyebrows twitched. It was evident that something deeply displeased her.

"A person as mighty as the principal can't handle things on their own and has to ask students for help?"

"Well... seems like it."

"..."

That was the end of their conversation.

Hong Bi-Yeon looked back at the screen, and Edna unconsciously found herself watching too.

Since this was a hospital room inside the Stella Dome, it was possible to watch the Magic Survival in real-time monitoring.

One could find the participant they wanted to watch with a click on the remote.

How convenient was it?

Of course, only participants hanging around the places illuminated by the sun and moon inside the stage could be monitored, and Baek Yu-Seol happened to be shown on the screen since he was wandering outside.

He was urgently rushing somewhere, ignoring the surrounding landmarks, artifacts, and even the enemies trying to fight.

Most spectators might not understand why Baek Yu-Seol was behaving like that, but the girls present there could immediately tell.

He probably spotted a dark mage and was rushing towards that place.

The opponent was a Level 5 Danger dark mage.

Logically thinking, students stood no chance.

But if the student was none other than Baek Yu-Seol... They were excited and worried at the same time.

Anyway, this fight required him to withstand the one-sided onslaught of a dark mage.

…

They remained silent, and quietly watched the screen.

It felt particularly harsh to just stand by today.

——-

Crash!! Flash!

As if trying to split the world in half, a single streak of lightning struck the ground.

It appeared to be natural lightning, but in fact, it was the effect of the top-tier single-use artifact [Lv.5 Thunderbolt Invocation].

The artifact could only be obtained by going to very special locations, and collecting all five types of talisman artifacts. The conditions were so strict that it appeared only once in 100 matches.

There was no one intentionally searching for the five items, and even if they tried, they were scattered in such a manner that it wasn't easy to collect them until the end of the match.

Moreover, even if they were all collected, the activation conditions were very strict.

'When activated at a specified location, lightning strikes five minutes later.'

Although the destructive power itself could send the opponent flying with a single blow, the range was very narrow and it took five minutes to cast.

How could you know where the opponent would be in five minutes?

It was a well-known fact that despite having overwhelming performance, it possessed unreasonable risks, making it an artifact made just for fun.

Of course, Baek Yu-Seolhad already located the positions of the five items through the Sentient Spec and had already collected them all to create the 'Thunderbolt Invocation'.

He had done the labor just in case there might be a use for it.

And then support came.

Principal Eltman Eltwin marked the location of the Berenkal on the map.

As soon as he saw Jeliel and Berenkal encountering each other, he roughly designated lightning to that location.

He prayed for some luck to strike either of them.

If Jeliel was struck, she would be safely eliminated and sent back outside, and even if Berenkal was eliminated, he would be subdued by the warriors waiting outside.

"Ugh, ack...."

After running for a while, when he arrived at the hill, the battle was almost over.

Jeliel lay on the ground unable to move.

She had suffered severe burns all over her body, and it was doubtful if proper rehabilitation was possible.

'As for Berenkal....'

The debris from the lightning filled the surroundings, making it impossible to see clearly.

First, he hurriedly went to Jeliel and gently supported her neck.

"Hey, are you okay? You're not dead, right?"

"Ugh...."

Then Jeliel slowly opened her eyes.

Like her father, she also possessed clear golden eyes.

Despite the red marks all over her body, the thought that her eyes were as beautiful as jewels crossed his mind, but he quickly shook his head to clear it.

"Forget about it, let's go back quickly. You can get treatment now."

Boom!

As he plunged the auxiliary dagger into her heart, her body disappeared into shards of light.

She was eliminated and sent back outside.

With this, the situation was somewhat resolved.

'If only there was a system where you could choose to end your life, this wouldn't have happened...'

To take one's own life, the only options were to jump into a fissure, expose oneself to the barriers outside the competition area, or turn off all shields and jump from a high place.

But this was an open hill, and since there were no natural disasters. It wasn't easy to take one's own life.

It was a huge relief that Jeliel strived on until now.

After sending her back, Baek Yu-Seol closed his eyes and focused, sending his [Senses] out in all directions.

Baek Yu-Seol's sensory ability could be considered superior even to mages' mana scans, and it sharply detected the presence of all hidden mana.

Even though he thought Berenkal had been struck by lightning and died, it was an act done out of caution.

Swish!

"?!"

Suddenly, the rock below him broke, and a hand with crimson flames burst out, aiming for Baek Yu-Seol's throat.

Thanks to his senses, he was able to react quickly and barely avoid it by jumping back.

Thud…

As Baek Yu-Seol brushed off debris from fallen trees, piles of dirt, and pieces of stone from his body, something slowly revealed its upper body.

"Haah... Seriously, why do you keep bothering me?"

Saying so, Berenkal glared at Baek Yu-Seol.

Despite being half burned by lightning, he still appeared fine.

Since there was no way for him to defend against lightning, it seemed he was fortunate enough to only get grazed.

"..."

Baek Yu-Seol quickly drew his weapon.

Unfortunately, it wasn't a sword but a club.

However, there was no problem with this.

The reason he used a sword in the first place was that he could only shape mana into the form of a blade, and it could penetrate the opponent's shield to deliver a direct blow, regardless of its form.

"Ha, yeah. Baek Yu-Seol! I've been looking for you. It was annoying to keep getting interrupted, but it worked out well."

Whoosh!

As he ignited crimson flames in both hands, the corners of his mouth rose sharply.

It was a grotesque smile that could not be made with a human face, and a certain eeriness invaded Baek Yu-Seol's spine.

"If I burn you... will this frustration be relieved too? Huh?"

It was a head-on confrontation.

Both the opponent and Baek Yu-Seol were exhausted, but... the recovery speed of the dark mages transcended humans effortlessly.

There was no way to win if they fought properly.

Without a doubt, once his Flash pattern was recognized, that monster would chase and burn him.

So, in fact... He didn't even consider fighting properly.

This was the arena of Magic Survival.

As long as he could eliminate the opponent in 'some way', wasn't that enough?

By now, warriors must be waiting outside to deal with Berenkal.

If it were an ordinary fight, the chances of him killing Berenkal would drastically decrease, but once he started considering ways to eliminate the opponent in Magic Survival, the situation changed.

As Baek Yu-Seol quietly stepped back, Berenkal lowered his posture and said, "You are a knight? Then... I'll deal with you in a similar way!"

Thud!

Without a Hyper Jump, Berenkal approached Baek Yu-Seol in an instant with raw leaping ability.

Thinking that he couldn't simply roll away, Baek Yu-Seol used Flash diagonally about 2 meters to the side and swung the club toward Berenkal's back.

"Where!"

However, he reacted like a ghost, spinned his body, and used his flame-clad hand to deflect Baek Yu-Seol's club.

"Urgh!"

Overwhelmed by pure strength, Baek Yu-Seol grabbed his tingling wrist and jumped back.

Then, Berenkal plunged his hand into the ground.

"Explode!"

Bang!!

The ground cracked and a volcanic explosion of black flames unfurled towards Baek Yu-Seol!

However, knowing well that the attack could only go straight, he smoothly dodged to the side and used Flash twice in a row.

First, behind Berenkal.

[Flash]

"Same trick!"

Then, again in the opposite direction.

[Flash]

Swish!

Berenkal turned to look at Baek Yu-Seol, and in that split second, Baek Yu-Seol moved to his side and struck him on the temple with the club.

Thud!!

"Crack!"

Perhaps it was thanks to the artifact which increased his agility stats, Baek Yu-Seol's movements were much faster than it appeared to the eyes of audience.

This was the advantage of Magic Survival.

If artifact farming was done well, one could exert much stronger power than in reality.

Even artifacts which increased agility or strength were treated as trash, so nobody collected them, and they were scattered everywhere, making it easy to farm.

… Was this the advantage of being a poop picker?

No one used related artifacts, so farming was easy.

It was a tear inducing advantage.

"This guy... I've heard he's like a leech..."

"I guess I'm more like a summer mosquito type."

"Die!"

Baek Yu-Seol intended to joke back and forth to complete the cooldown of Flash, but Berenkal didn't seem to have such intentions and rushed in ignorantly.

Right now, there was only one Flash available for use.

But there was a reason why he recklessly used Flash.

[Jumping Square]

Baek Yu-Seol threw a box on the ground, and stomped on it, causing his body to leap forward.

Originally, it was an artifact set as a trap to ambush opponents, but he had practiced enough to control it three-dimensionally.

"Hmm!"

Perhaps not expecting him to rush towards him directly, Berenkal's eyes widened, but he soon reached out his hand with flame-clad nails to grab Baek Yu-Seol's neck.

However, Baek Yu-Seol rotated his body swiftly, making his chest face the sky, and precisely teleported 1 meter upwards to rise above.

"What...?"

As Berenkal's hand pierced through the empty air, Baek Yu-Seol utilized the momentum to rotate his body and struck his head.

Thud!

"Huh...!"

Despite the impact, Berenkal didn't care and reached out to him.

It was truly a ghostly obsession, but Baek Yu-Seol stomped on his hand and tumbled, then threw a few beads at Berenkal.

Puff! Puff! Puff!

It was a smoke bomb which didn't do any damage, and it only served to obscure the vision, but getting hit by it was quite unpleasant.

Of course... such artifacts couldn't inflict significant damage on him.

Swish!

As evidence, the intense crimson flames burned even more fiercely.

"This guy..."

Berenkal clenched the giant roaring flames in his hands which appeared like a campfire and slowly walked towards Baek Yu-Seol.

It seemed like he was relaxing, but it was actually a preparatory gesture to react to his movements.

Trying to Flash here would only waste the cooldown.

So, Baek Yu-Seol... threw the artifact [Frog Tongue] towards Berenkal.

"What?!"

The pink tongue stretched out, kissing Berenkal's chest, and instantly pulled him towards Baek Yu-Seol in an instant.

Since all players in Magic Survival had been calibrated by the system, the influence of 'artifacts' couldn't be completely ignored even by a Dark Mage.

However, it seemed resistance was possible.

Berenkal grabbed the frog tongue with both hands and burned it.

However, he also revealed a gap at the same time.

Ting-a-ling-a-ling... Crash!!

Baek Yu-Seol placed a 'gift box which explodes in 5 seconds' on the frog tongue, so he flew backward, and Berenkal was hit by the impact.

"Urgh... Can't you fight properly? Can someone who fights like this fit to be called a magic warrior!"

He shouted as Baek Yu-Seol sprinted to widen the distance.

"Cowardly! Despicable! You fight so dirty! Has honor been thrown to the ground! Stella's magic warrior!"

Hearing his words, Baek Yu-Seol couldn't help but grin.

"Thanks for the compliment. Fighting is supposed to be like this."

Dirty and despicable?

That was the highest praise he could receive!

[Flash]

As Baek Yu-Seol ran towards the trees beyond the hill, Berenkal chased after him furiously.

His forehead protruded horns, and his palm was so huge that it could cover a face entirely, unlike just now when he maintained a human form.

Now, his anger had peaked, transforming him into a complete demon.

"Uh, this is getting a bit dangerous...!"

Squish!

Bang!

The spherical chunks of crimson flames sprang up, shattering the rocks Baek Yu-Seol had been hiding behind...

No, they vaporized them outright.

The destructive power had vastly increased from before.

If even one of those hit directly, he could truly die with no chance of recovery.

'This isn't good....'

There was still time until 'it' arrived.

Until then, he had no choice but to endure.

He had to use a skill he really didn't want to use.

[Spirit Technique: Breath of the Spirit, Type 2]

[Agility 150% Enhancement]

"Hoo..."

The breath he inhaled and exhaled contained the breath of the Celestia.

The clear energy of the spirit gradually infused his body, boosting one of his abilities to its limit.

Even his perception seemed to slow down as if everything in the world had slowed.

The pouring rain almost seemed to stop.

Just a touch with his fingers could make it burst into drops.

Far away, lightning flashed like blooming flowers.

Beautiful.

Baek Yu-Seol realized for the first time that a slowed-down world could be so beautiful and dazzling.

...Swoosh!

Even the sound cut through the air, but the crimson flames rushing towards him were no longer a threat.

Just 15 seconds.

In a slowed-down world, Baek Yu-Seol could evade everything without even using Flash.

With one step, it brushed past his waist,

With two steps, it crashed hopelessly where he once stood.

With three steps, it was unable to chase him anymore, and ended up in the wrong place.

Thunk!!

But the flurry of flames lasted only a moment.

Eventually, Berenkal was unable to bear it any longer. With his superior physical abilities, Berenkal pushed himself forward, jumped, and quickly caught up to Baek Yu-Seol.

"...."

Shoaaaa~!

Whirrr...

The downpour still fell heavily.

It was a dead end.

Having reached the edge of the cliff, he slowly turned around.

Berenkal, who had approached unnoticed, silently stared at him.

"It's over."

If Baek Yu-Seol retreated two steps, there was a cliff edge.

There was nowhere to run.

He must make a stand here, but the terrain was too narrow to capitalize on his only advantage: mobility.

Knowing this well, Berenkal approached leisurely, like a cat hunting a cornered mouse.

But...

Berenkal's leisure felt like a relief to Baek Yu-Seol.

"Yeah. It's over."

"... Ha, have you finally accepted reality?"

"No. What are you talking about?"

The downpour intensified.

Strangely, sparks flashed in the darkness, and the thunderous roar in the sky became more frequent.

This was a stage.

Baek Yu-Seol was well aware of how every natural disaster occurred, and from where...

Kurrrrung...

Crash!!

"Wha, what...?"

From a distance, suddenly, the lightning began to strike down aggressively.

It hadn't reached here yet, but it was gradually approaching.

'You, who are cursed by the Hailgeth, the god of thunder, everything that touches his gaze will burn.'

At the edge of the cliff.

Facing the onslaught of lightning, Baek Yu-Seol spoke to Berenkal.

"Now you understand it's over, right?"

... Eventually.

A white streak swept across the entire vicinity.