Chapter 25: We're Not Trapped.
The realization that I had experienced a past life came to me during my second life.
Should I call it intuition?
The moment I started formulating magic, I felt a sensation that could only be described as 'Eureka.'
Even now, it remains a mystery to me.
But that's the only way I could feel.
I am a reincarnator.
An entity that reincarnates countless times.
Thus, starting from my second life up to the third,
I sought ways to quickly become stronger, honing my power.
To regain my power from my previous reincarnation faster than anyone. That was the premise upon which I created my ability.
Magic, martial arts.
Combining the two abilities to create the Great Sky Dancing Divine Mantra.
It was the perfect fit for me.
Fortunately, I had talent.
And I had a desire too.
On top of the city wall.
-Uuuuuugh!
Corpses reached out to cling to me.
It was unpleasant.
Even though they were resurrected corpses lacking any intellect,
They dared to lay a hand on my body.
'To start, what should I do?'
I started summoning the Brilliant Blazing Fire,
And the Glacial Heavenly Moon.
The two different powers harmonized and repelled, generating an enormous amount of mana.
And the spirit elixir given by the principal,
I completely melted it down.
'I don't know who it is.'
I don't know why they terrorized the academy's dungeon.
I don't even want to know the reason.
However, the bastard touched me,
And touched the students I teach.
Though there's no bond between me and my students yet
'You touched the wrong person.'
Don't think you can touch me and return safely.
I jumped straight off the ramparts.
Whoosh!
As the wind fluttered, I could feel my hair flying about.
Then, I called upon the Great Sky Dancing Divine Mantra.
Woong!!
Increasing my falling speed, my speed became immeasurable as I kicked towards the gate.
In that state, I struck with all the strength I had in my legs."
Kwoong─!!
A massive explosion occurred, and the bodies of dozens of zombies nearby burst open.
'Recovery.'
Basic Mana Manipulation.
I assume control over the mana around me.
Recover some of the expended mana and minimize consumption.
'Efficiently.'
There are countless enemies.
No matter how strong I am, I can't take them down with just my two fists.
In that case.
"It's been a while since I've used a weapon."
I took out the spear I had taken from Yoo Eunchae.
「Give me a weapon before I go.」
「This is really expensive, I'm giving it to you so you don't get hurt!」
Yoo Eunchae's words came to mind. I couldn't help but smile.
'A spear.'
My main attack is martial arts.
I use fists and feet as my primary weapons, but I'm equally skilled with swords and spears.
The reason I practice martial arts is simple:
Someday, my body, fully molded, will boast the most rigid hardness.
I've tried both spear and sword, but neither managed to satisfy my taste.
'The spear isn't bad either.'
Whoosh!
I swung it once. As if to prove that it wasn't just talk about being expensive, the feel in the hand was quite good.
'Then… shall we go.'
Moonlight.
Flash!
The qi of the moon, endowed with divinity, gathered at the tip of the spear.
[Your proficiency in Moonlight (A) increases!]
[Moonlight (A) evolves into Moonlight (A+)!]
I knew it as soon as it evolved.
The innate quality of Moonlight had changed.
And I could add any property I wanted.
Moonlight's paramount quality is that it is a power specialized in cutting.
'Not bad.'
No.
It is rather good.
I swung the spear with a smile.
For someone, this situation might be an adversity.
But not for me.
'This is not even considered as a trial.'
To think of testing me with just this.
Whoosh!!
A single swing. With that, dozens of zombies are bisected.
"Hup."
And it seizes the morale of the zombies.
Burning them with magic is simple, but.
The reason I deliberately don't use magic and kill the enemy with martial arts is because,
'Because there might be more enemies coming.'
I at least expected that outcome.
Thousands of zombie hordes.
Four Corpse Lords.
And one more.
'The number I can currently kill.'
A peculiar energy begins to gather in the form of a whirlwind at the end of the Moonlight.
Holding the end of the spear shaft, I swung the spear, wrapped in Moonlight as it was.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
One strike.
And a second strike.
Dozens of zombies are sliced by the spear and bisected. Without stopping, I plunged in.
With my footwork techniques. I moved forward.
I grasp the peculiar qi inside the bodies of the zombies I killed,
And with that qi I unleash,
'Glacial Heavenly Moon.'
Crack.
Their hearts freeze cold, and the nearby temperature plummets.
I grasp the peculiar qi obtained from the zombies.
Just like taking a long jump with a spear, I stamp on the ground and leap.
I retrieve the spear with telekinesis.
And then.
'Brilliant Blazing Fire.'
Whoosh.
Flames burst forth. The cold of destruction and the flame of life merge above my hand.
It begins to transform into a massive magical power.
'Amplification.'
The essence of Amplification is a method that uses opposing powers to make a more explosive power.
If my martial arts are perfect, then my magic begins imperfect.
However, its imperfection can lead to heightened power.
And because they are different forces that repel each other,
This power is maximized.
The study of Amplification was the signature of the newly created Purple Magic Tower.
Huff.
I held my breath.
The world slows down endlessly.
The world I see narrows, and most of my energy starts to be used to control this magic power.
'At first.'
What to use.
In fact, there's no need to ponder.
Glacial Heavenly Moon and Brilliant Blazing Fire.
The purpose of using this magic power, created by extremely repelling these two forces, is predetermined.
Light of the Divine Thunderbolt.
The thunderbolt that splits the stars.
The power generated by using the two techniques, Light of the Divine Thunderbolt destroys everything. It will be felt by my students 100m away.
'Well, I can't use it in this condition either.'
Therefore, I can use a different magic.
"Moon Wheel, Moonlight Flower."
A small sphere forms in my grasp.
Its color is endlessly white. And it harbored destruction.
[Unique Trait, Eternity resides in you.]
A crackling coldness harboring destruction began to emit a bright blue light, freezing everything around it.
Holding this blue sphere, I landed amidst thousands of zombies.
"Explode."
It manifested as a ring. I imbued it with the intention of freezing and shattering all the zombies.
As the intention took shape, the circle transformed into the form of a ring.
And then, like a wave…
Kwooooo──!
It scattered in all directions.
The first zombies to experience this wave froze instantly and shattered into fragments.
The hundreds of zombies outside of it were freezing and being smashed into fragments by the shattered ice.
And the last of the zombies.
Were half-frozen.
'Tsk. Are there any alive?'
About 200 remained.
But they couldn't move. Not until this fight was over.
Crack.
I twisted my neck. My body felt a bit stiff.
This time, I won't recover the mana.
Because I used magic mixed with a peculiar qi. Having a lot of mana isn't always good.
I slung the spear over my shoulder and slowly moved forward.
-Roarrr!!
The Corpse Lords leading the zombies from behind are coming towards me.
Despite being undead, their emotions were palpable.
Resentment towards the living.
But also bewilderment.
Unable to go against their instincts, they move to kill me, a living being.
But that's just it.
I wrapped the spear in the Moonlight.
The realm of these Corpse Lords is comparable to that of four martial artists at the peak of their prime.
If a magician were mixed in, even I couldn't handle nine of them but,
'It's manageable.'
I walked forward with a confident smile.
The Corpse Lord, with its massive bulk, approached me.
These things can't be dealt with quickly.
'They regenerate.'
Simple.
Whether beheading or bisecting the torso or cutting off limbs.
They attach the corpses around them to their own bodies.
The severed parts just stick back on as they were.
That's why the zombies must be killed first.
Not that it stops them from resurrecting, though.
'It's so bothersome.'
As if their purpose is to waste time.
Dark Knights or Liches can be killed outright, but these must be burned along with their corpses.
There's no core or spirit-like entity within them.
'But.'
They've picked the wrong opponent.
Swoosh!
The circle in my heart is spinning.
While using the Glacial Heavenly Moon, my body temperature was being warmed by the Brilliant Blazing Fire.
It is a flame that embraces life.
The Brilliant Blazing Fire is lethal to the undead in its own right.
Although not quite as effective as holy power, it's close enough.
However, I can't use Brilliant Blazing Fire right now.
Currently, it's in a state where it can only embrace the Glacial Heavenly Moon.
'Using it is also possible, but.'
It's inferior to the Glacial Heavenly Moon.
So there's no real need to use it.
'Glacial Heavenly Moon.'
The circle, now weaker than before, began to rotate.
'Let's try an experiment.'
Crack, crack.
I loosen up my body.
The Corpse Lord moved, lifting its giant arm.
Kwoong!
In an instant, its accelerated fist was thrust down at me.
'It's too slow.'
It's trying to deceive me with acceleration, even my students wouldn't fall for this.
I lightly stepped onto its fist and climbed up to its head.
And then.
Ice Realm.
Chrrrrrrrr!
Threads made of ice began to bind its body.
-Kuo?
Slowly, Ice Realm freezes its body.
'This is quite useful.'
The effect of this ability isn't to bind the enemy.
It's to convert the enemy's power into my own power.
The amount is very small, but,
'This isn't too bad.'
At the same time, I summoned Moonlight into the Ice Realm.
[Moonlight (A+) dwells in you.]
The Ice Realm began to sharpen.
The Ice Realm, sharpened by the Moonlight, burrowed into the Corpse Lord's body.
However, the Corpse Lord wasn't alone.
The ones still remaining began to target me.
As if I am the most threatening here.
'There's three of them.'
The opponents are troublesome. They have reproduced the power of immortality to some extent.
On the other hand, I have used more than half of my magical power.
The spear is intact, but the Brilliant Blazing Fire can only be used as a support for Glacial Heavenly Moon.
Whoosh!
I swung the spear once. One of the Corpse Lord's arms flies off.
'It lacks a bit of dignity.'
Dignity doesn't feed or shelter a person, nor does it save someone.
'Let's see them try to rampage.'
"What is, that."
She recalled the scene from a moment ago.
Is that even possible?
Shin Yura looked at Han Seojin.
She recalled the magic that seemed to have scorched everything to the ground just moments ago.
Most magicians would be horrified by the power of that magic.
However, Shin Yura was not only shocked by the power of the magic but also focused on something else.
'He controlled the explosion's range and shape with his will.'
Only those chosen by magic could understand this.
It was different from any magic she had used before.
7th Circle.
A feat that only heroes considered to be of the highest caliber could possibly achieve.
Those who have projected their visions into the world and engraved them upon it are the type of people who could achieve this greatness.
'Is such a thing really possible?'
She had hoped it could be.
But she thought that only high-ranking magicians could do it.
Yet, Han Seojin seemed to mock those beliefs, deciding on the magic's form.
It was as if he could control the blast radius at will, with a power that could be comparable to the Sun's power.
'Come to think of it.'
He said it was Basic Mana Manipulation.
A method of dispersing magic and controlling the mana around.
If you don't know about magic, you might think that's easy.
But for Shin Yura, who staked her entire life on magic, it was different.
It was a power that could make fools of those who had been introduced to magic for at least a decade.
That's why she wanted to obtain that power.
Moreover, his power didn't end there.
Though unsteady, the sight of him swinging a spear once and slicing through dozens of zombies was genuinely terrifying.
But the bigger problem was the Corpse Lords.
Han Seojin had to face Corpse Lords afterward.
It's too much.
That's what she thought, because even they are having a hard time killing the Corpse Lords.
'Incredibly tenacious.'
Even if its body shatters, it moves endlessly.
As if born solely to kill them.
Thus, they still haven't haven't yet entertained the idea of helping Seojin.
However.
'How can the Corpse Lord be so easily…'
Han Seojin bursts into laughter as he moves.
And he grinds.
He grinds the Corpse Lord, pulverizing him.
With his spear, he grinds every part of the Corpse Lord, and with his fist, he crushes everything.
His spear moves as if there is nothing it cannot cut through.
And his fist erases any form as if it could destroy anything.
If one can be so perfect as a warrior…
'Is this not even a second awakening?'
Seriously.
Was he truly someone who had been hiding his power?
The second awakening might just be a stepping stone.
Everything is chaotic.
-Kuooooo!!
However, the situation was far from ideal.
It was too dangerous a place to make any inferences.
So, she buried the question, but…
"Who on earth are you…?"
Who are you?
That question never left her mind.
Screech.
The Corpse Lord's arm is sliced by the spear. Then, its arm is divided into five parts.
'This is quite useful.'
Moonlight.
The newly evolved Moonlight moved according to my will.
Previously, it was merely a combination of sword qi and Glacial Heavenly Moon, but now, the two powers merged and moved as I willed.
Like a whip, it stretched out long and delivered the next blow to the Corpse Lord.
The split body is struck with my fist.
Crunch.
Corpse pieces are crushed by my fist. Another Corpse Lord approached me.
My spear drew a single line.
And the Moonlight drew five lines.
Crunchhhhh!!
The Corpse Lord's body is split into dozens of pieces.
And then.
Whoosh!
Moonlight ripples around my fist.
'Without leaving a single one,'
I grind the corpses to dust.
The Glacial Heavenly Moon responds to my will.
Frost technique.
Crackling!!
My hand begins to shine brightly white. The cold-infused hand freezes and shatters the body of the Corpse Lord.
'Three.'
Only two Corpse Lords remain now.
There isn't much mana left.
However, my body is moving more actively than ever before.
I begin recalling my conversation with Yoo Eunchae.
「The one who attacked this place? They must be here for sure.」
「How can you say so?」
「Should I call it a downside? Anyway, it's the price for severing this place's space. No one can leave here for a while!」
「So, if I'm correct, no one can enter this place either.」
「Not even the principal?」
「That senile old woman might have a way, but…」
「That settles it.」
The words I exchanged with Yoo Eunchae came to mind.
They must have thought they had us trapped.
Certainly, that's what they believed until before the terror struck.
However,
'You're wrong.'
It's not us who are trapped.
It's them who's trapped here.
So, they should pay the price for making me work so much.