I Became A Flashing Genius At The Magic Academy

Chapter 174: The Seventh Main Tower (6)

Chapter 174: The Seventh Main Tower (6)

All tasks outside Stella had all completed.

Baek Yu-Seol found a solution to the curse of Florin, found the sacred object, and obtained a significant artifact that would help with the ‘Dark Magic Corruption’ at Malentai City.

He even went to the residence of Pung Ryu-jin to explore the ruins, and successfully obtained the ‘divine water’ as well.

Although he wanted to return to Florin immediately to lift the curse, it was inevitable to return as the initiation of the ‘Dark Magic Corruption’ was progressing in Stella.

He planned to immediately go to Edna and boast about the Dead Spirit’s Vengeful Talisman.

He believed that having it would be very reassuring in the Seventh Main Tower Episode where the ‘Dark Magic Corruption’ episode was taking place.

But when he arrived, he realized.

“Edna...? Come to think of it, where did she go to investigate the rumors herself...?"

"What's up?"

The episode progressed unusually fast, and the ghost stories in Seventh Main Tower had already begun in earnest.

"Crazy..."

Cold sweat dripped from his whole body.

It wasn't unexpected, but the situation was very grim.

There had been several changes in episodes before, and each time, hadn't they suffered?

He vaguely anticipated it.

He just hoped it wouldn't happen like this.

"Even though episodes change abruptly, this is a bit too much."

Since Professor Maizen Tyren, the subject of the Dark Magic Corruption, disappeared to be replaced by someone else... There was nothing he could do.

Still, he thought it was fortunate that he wasn’t too late.

It hadn't been a few hours since Edna and her party entered the Seventh Main Tower.

He quickly finished his preparations and headed to the Seventh Main Tower.

This episode was particularly strange in which players had to find the entrance to the previous dungeon.

While typical quests were marked on the guide map with ‘Where to go,’ this episode required players to personally uncover the riddles and ghost stories.

At first, many people were confused and couldn't progress through the episode properly, and even Baek Yu-Seol was one of those fools.

However, the veterans were different.

[?Must Read?]

[?Final Summary of the Dark Magic Corruption?]

They diligently investigated all dungeon entrances, riddles, routes, shortcuts, and various clearing methods within the game and posted the final summary in the community.

There was no other way to describe them, but to say that they were maniacs.

But he owed them a lot.

Thanks to their efforts, he hadn’t encountered any obstacles even as he was on his way to the Seventh Main Tower.

However, there was one thing which made him worried.

"I hope Edna hasn't overexerted herself before I arrive..."

She tended to gather all her strength and explode whenever an event occurred in the original game, so he couldn't help but worry.

Additionally, there was one fact he couldn't tell Edna because of the lack of Narrative Power.

[Newbies, be cautious when tackling the Seventh Main Tower dungeon with the Edna character]

[Behind the boss, there's a full-body mirror; don't approach it]

[I don't know why, but if you make contact with the mirror as Edna, your character will die instantly]

[It seems fine with other characters, so it might just be a bug??]

A bug that was neither explained nor fixed until the end.

What if it wasn't actually a bug but had some reason behind it?

"... I don't know. I'll have to hurry and see before something like that happens."

Splish!

It was as if his body was piercing through space and time, and he was instantly sucked into another world.

A world where all colors were reversed.

There, Baek Yu-Seol chose the most efficient and fastest route and raced towards Edna at full speed.

———

The reason why the final boss, Maizen Tyren, was dangerous in this episode was because he could manipulate the magic of all the students who entered the Seventh Main Tower.

In the original novel, Maizen supressed Eisel with endless mana and various magic instead of the abilities of a dark mage, but at that time, Eisel’s observational skills allowed her to grasp the enemy's weaknesses even in extreme situations.

While Professor Maizen Tyren was fighting, he hardly utilized the unique physical abilities of a dark mage, almost as if he were nailed to the ground, which made it seem like he was protecting something.

Immediately afterward, she realized.

*'The full-body mirror is his weakness.'*

Maizen Tyren was shocked by Eisel’s word in the original novel, and she gained confidence from his reaction, approached the mirror and shattered it with magic cast from close range.

"We can win."

As the giant flames flew towards them, Edna defended with a shield of light and looked at the mirror behind Chekeren.

The mysterious mirror emitted a sinister aura. It was the object that caused this ghost incident and maintained the Seventh Main Tower, the core artifact.

"Take this!"

As Anella unleashed a cute battle cry and threw a punch, the earth barrier protecting Professor Chekeren crumbled.

Through the gap, Eisel sent a bolt of lightning, but the scattered rubble flying towards her intercepted the attack.

Crash!

However, disregarding the laws of science, Eisel’s blue lightning traveled the earth and struck Professor Chekeren directly.

Crunch!

"Hmm...!"

Although the shield protecting Professor Chekeren didn't shatter, its spider web-like golden structure was compromised.

"Impressive for a first-year."

However, the compromised shield quickly regenerated.

It recovered much faster than the time it took for other students to restore their shields.

Indeed, being a dark mage with a professorship was not for nothing.

At first glance, victory appeared unlikely.

Even during a normal magical battle, the opponent could exert even stronger forces amidst difficulties.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

"Aaargh!"

The shattered rubble rose into the air.

As it descended at a terrifying speed, Anella panicked and jumped around.

"Together!"

As Edna struck the ground with her staff, pillars of light rose, shattering all the falling rubble.

But the attack didn't end there.

Rumble!

Thud!

A massive bolt of lightning pierced through the dome from above!

Its power was easily above Class 5, to the point where the shield couldn't withstand it if hit.

"Watch out!"

Crack!

Sensing the lightning in advance, Anella quickly flew out of the way, while Eisel extended an icy shield towards the ceiling.

"Ugh...!"

However, it was insufficient to completely block the lightning.

Some shards of lightning bounced off and wrapped around Eisel’s body.

"Darn it, seriously..."

Edna hurriedly placed her hand on the ground and summoned green vines to wrap around Eisel’s body like armor.

The lightning promptly dissipated and disappeared.

*'How do we approach the mirror?'*

The plan had been explained long ago.

- If they could create this level of space, there must be a 'core,' and we should destroy it, so stall for time.

However, due to Professor Chekeren's unexpectedly strong fighting skills, approaching closer was impossible.

*'Long-range magic will all be blocked....'*

Coordinate generation magic lacked destructive power, so they couldn't destroy the mirror from afar, and casting magic from a distance would reduce its power, plus Chekeren would surely notice and defend himself during casting.

They couldn't leave such a crucial part unattended.

*'I'll figure it out for real.'*

In the original novel, Professor Maizen was an alchemist.

There was a description indicating that he couldn't properly handle magic of this scale because his talent in magic was lacking and he was forcibly transferred to alchemy.

Thanks to this, Eisel found a gap to break the mirror.

However, Professor Chekeren was a professor of elemental magic, so he had combat experience.

Actually, it would be more accurate to say that he had superior abilities compared to most combat mages, not just dark mages.

Because of this, even with the combined efforts of Anella and two others, they couldn't approach him.

"No, there's a way."

Edna looked at Anella hopping around like a frog.

Having awakened her physical abilities, she was displaying speed and power beyond imagination.

*‘Maybe not as much as Eisel or Mayuseong... but I can use her as a knight.’*

As soon as that thought came to him, Edna shouted loudly.

"Anella! I just figured it out. The mirror behind that bastard is the weakness! Go and smash it!"

"Huh. What?!"

Startled, Anella widened her eyes.

Her expression seemed to convey, ‘Was she allowed to say that?’

They had already discussed targeting the mirror just before arriving here.

But making the opponent unaware of what they were aiming for was the most basic strategy.

But to blurt it out like that?

"Oh... Okay!"

But what could be done?

Thinking it must have some significance, she dashed towards the mirror as Edna instructed.

"Where?!"

Clang!

Thud!

Anella's instant leap might not be as powerful as a Hyper Jump, but it had considerable speed, causing Chekeren to mark her as the target.

Gathering debris to create a huge boulder, he pushed it towards her. Then, he summoned flames in the air, and sent lightning bolts and ice shard fragments to obstruct Anella's path.

"Aaargh!"

*‘No matter how you look at it, this isn't it. I'm really going to die!’*

With no gap to dodge, tears welled up in Anella's eyes as she witnessed the incoming magic.

"Ah, I’m dying at the ripe age of 40. I haven’t even experienced love."

However, in that moment, golden magic circles spun around Anella's body, summoning dozens of bundles of chains which intercepted all the incoming magic.

Lightning fizzled out as it descended along the chains.

Boulders were caught and stopped by the chains, and ice shards were deflected by the chains.

"This is...!"

Undoubtedly, it was Edna’s magic.

Although each chain was merely at the Class 4 level, the fact that there were dozens of them... meant that Edna unleashed this magic to protect Anella, even at the risk of exhausting herself.

"Damn it! Then I can't hold back either!"

Without solely relying on the chains, Anella maximized her own agility and reflexes.

She defended against avoidable magic and punches to conserve Edna’s mana while advancing forward.

"It's truly ridiculous that a traitor like you receives protection from mages!"

Chekeren muttered while clenching his fists.

Then, a huge golden wall rose from the ground to confine Anella, but... Splurt!

"Hmm!"

The gold didn't solidify and melted down, seeping into the ground.

*'Why?'*

Students consumed by the ghosts and shadows of the Seventh Main Tower had their magic completely taken by Chekeren.

Jeremy Skalben must have been completely consumed by the ghost as well.

He thought he had absorbed all his magic...

*'Damn it!'*

Now wasn't the time for such thoughts.

With the magic intended to bind her failing feet, Anella approached even closer.

*'It wouldn't matter if I killed one!'*

Absorbing magic through ghosts and shadows was difficult to fully accept.

Hence, to absorb Eisel and Edna’s magic at high purity, he needed to subdue rather than kill, restraining his power as much as possible.

However, it was fine to kill Anella anyway.

After all, she was a dark mage, so there wae no need to absorb her power.

"Stop being a nuisance and just die."

Slicck!

Along Chekeren's forearm, the black aura twisted like a snake, creating a small sphere.

It wasn’t absorbed magic, but Chekeren's original ability as a dark mage.

The moment it was completed and aimed at Anella.

Crack!

A chilling sensation stimulated Chekeren's senses.

*'Dangerous. Instinct is speaking. If I don't hurry to defend, something big will definitely happen.'*

As his casting was interrupted, he turned his gaze to find Edna approaching him. She was running with light swirling around the end of her staff.

It was not towards him, but towards the mirror behind.

Ah.

The power of that magic was undoubtedly above the Class 4.

Although he had put some defensive magic around the mirror, whether he could fully defend against the dazzling magic was uncertain.

*'Quick, I need to block it...!'*

Chekeren gritted his teeth and calculated a spell to stop Edna.

Even if he didn't kill her now, he could still easily block her.

Such a judgment was made, but...

- Don't block her.

"... Excuse me?"

A voice that had not been involved in the battle at all issued a command.

It was so sudden that Chekeren momentarily looked dumbfounded, by which time Edna had already reached the full-body mirror.

"Yaaaah!"

With a battle cry, Edna thrust the end of her staff into the mirror.

Flash!

For a moment, a tremendous light emanated, but... It was engulfed by the black aura emanating from the mirror.

"... Huh?"

Sensing that something was wrong, Edna tried to withdraw her foot, but it was too late.

- Child of the Constellation, do not resent.