21st Century Archmage

Chapter 202: Master! Please Show Me Your Skills

“All hail His Imperial Majesty of the Dark Empire! All hail! All haiiiil!”

The 1 million people living in the Laviter Empire’s Imperial City were slaughtered in a single day. With their terrifyingly keen noses for the smell and heat of humans, the Death Knights and Hell Soldiers killed all people who had been their comrades and family members not long ago. After the killing, the bodies were left to rot. Bloated from the still-hot weather, the corpses gave off a sickening stench that pervaded the air all the way into the Imperial Palace.

Sitting on the throne, Altakas raised a hand to silence the cheering black mages and Kerma priests. The only living beings within the Imperial City were about a hundred maids responsible for various tasks. All the other attendants became playthings for the Death Knights and died, and the soldiers and knights of the Imperial Guard had long been reborn as soldiers of the Dark Empire.

“Oh mighty and wonderful Master of Darkness, I humbly offer my felicitations. The capitals of the Yukane, Lialion, and Defort Kingdoms have all been conquered.”

“We offer our felicitations!”

They were born as humans, but they treated people worse than objects. As ones who were addicted to the mana of turbid darkness, they knew not of love or mercy. These creatures driven solely by the urge to submit and destroy were praising their master.

“Well done, my people. I shall make a new world for you, so continue to keep up the good work.”

“By thy will!”

For years, he played emperor among humans. But the imperial authority Altakas possessed without having fully recovered his strength was suffocating for him. Even as the emperor of an empire, he had to live while conscious of the gazes of others, something his corrupt soul found unbearable. But now, he could walk the path of the Black Magic Swordsman of Destruction to his heart’s content.

“Our next objective is Nerman. We shall guide the pitiful souls living there to Almighty Kerma, so make doubly sure that all preparations are perfect.”

“By thy will!”

To get to this point, Altakas had steadily built up his forces. He was getting close to 1,500 Death Skyknights and Death Wyverns that did not fear death. In addition, he had 10,000 Death Knights and 100,000 Hell Soldiers, as well as demon beasts and monsters tamed by dark energy. His forces might not be human, but he had a full regiment of thousands upon thousands of undead under his command. 

‘Huhuhu… This time, I will end you for sure.’

The Lord of Nerman got away thanks to the unexpected appearance of an archspirit, but Altakas wasn’t worried in the least. He was resolved to use all his forces to eliminate all the beings living in Nerman, as well as Kyre, the man whose future he feared.

And after crushing Nerman, he would turn the hundreds of thousands of monsters residing in the Rual Mountains and the Litore Mountains further ahead into his subordinates.

* * *

“I think something terrible is going to happen. Monsters have been gathering at the border for some time. There have also been sightings of Death Wyvern formations.”

The situation was so urgent that Rosiathe ran all the way without stopping to the border fort from the Havis Kingdom. When I heard about her arrival, I used the recently completed teleportation array to instantly reach the fort.

Rosiathe was extremely anxious. To the Havis Kingdom, which was just barely starting to recover its national power, the Dark Empire was a terrible curse.

“You must do exactly as I say from here on out.”

“Yes. I will follow your words unconditionally.”

Rosiathe nodded, showing her willingness to obey.

“Quickly evacuate all your citizens towards the Delphiran Kingdom, the Gaetz Principality, or the Bajran Empire.”

“Th-The citizens?”

“Thankfully, the weather is still warm, so it is suitable for traveling. The plagues are also said to have calmed down, so you must issue the order as fast as possible.”

“U-Understood.”

Rosiathe nodded in acquiescence. However, I knew it wouldn’t be easy. The citizens were the foundation of a kingdom. Even if everything worked out well, without the people, there was essentially no Havis Kingdom. In addition, the fall harvest was coming up. Some of the people would be unwilling to leave their homes and fields.

“Send all of your kingdom knights and soldiers to the rear forts or castles as well. The Dark Empire bastards are most certainly aiming for Nerman.”

“But… if we do that, then Nerman…” Rosiathe looked at me with dark eyes, worried for me and Nerman.

“Our preparations are perfect. After issuing all of the commands, you must immediately come here, Princess.”

From their attack patterns, they appeared to be primarily aiming for capitals or important forts. They used overwhelming forces—that were warped in large numbers using teleportation arrays—to unleash destructive attacks. Such a feat would be impossible if not for the 8th Circle black magic swordsman Altakas.

“I understand. I will do as you say, Lord Kyre,” Rosiathe said with a nod.

‘That’s right, just believe in me. Even if we die, we should die together.’

Not to brag, but what other hero could save the Kallian Continent other than me? The other empires and kingdoms were far too cowardly to do anything big.

“You must absolutely just give the commands and come here. You must be safe for the kingdom to have a future.”

“Yes… I will definitely do so.”

Rosiathe’s blue diamond eyes gleamed. Before I knew it, the office inside the fort was full of her faint pansy fragrance.

‘The table is all set. I won’t let anyone take it away from me.’

After getting tricked by Master Aidal, I managed to find my place on the Kallian Continent with enormous difficulty. You couldn’t listen to the story of my tumultuous life without shedding a few tears. My dream, my paradise, was right in front of me. I couldn’t let a wicked black fly ruin everything.

Most importantly, I was still a pure, unmarried bachelor. I never once entertained the thought of becoming a bachelor ghost doomed to partner up with an equally hapless virgin ghost.

* * *

Reaper Scans

* * *

“I have a request.”

“Do you? As long as it doesn’t require money or effort, I’ll happily oblige.”

‘He really leaves no openings.’

In addition to being a perfect mage, his mental barricades were impeccable at all times. He was the leading expert in embodying the adage “there’s no such thing as free”.

“I ask that you raise your disciple’s lacking eye of discernment.”

“Yeah? How should I raise it? Should I introduce you to a good place for eye plastic surgery?”

If someone spoke to you seriously, you shouldn’t answer them with a joke, but Master didn’t have a serious bone in his body. He had his feet on my office desk and was staring at me with a finger up his nose.

‘Who would believe that the one and only Archmage Aidal acts like this?’

When he first baited me, he gave off the impression of the incredibly benevolent mage called Gandalf. But alas, Gandalf was a fantasy, and all I had was the big boss of all bums, Bumdalf.

“I would like to see 8th Circle magic.”

“8th Circle magic?”

“Please show this disciple of yours the glorious realm you have ascended to.”

“Indeed, you can call it a glorious realm. Who other than me has ascended to the 8th Circle in all of continental history? Mmmm, indeed, indeed.”

Master Aidal was a skilled hand at flattering himself. Someone needed to break his fantasy.

“That is actually wrong.”

“What?”

Master’s face of satisfaction as he picked his nose stiffened. From the twitching of his brows, I could tell his pride was wounded.

“The man who declared the Dark Empire, Altakas, was already at the 8th Circle 200 years ago. And not only that, he’s also a Grand Blade Master in the sword! He’s an 8th Circle Magic Swordsman.”

“Th-That’s because black magic is easy to learn.”

“Hmmm… I wonder about that. According to the knowledge in my head, though black magic is easy to get into, it is difficult to ascend to higher circles. Isn’t that the case?”

Where did all the memories loaded into my head come from? That’s right, they were from this Golden-Eyed Nosepicker sitting right there.

“It’s ‘cause he’s lived longer than me.”

Master was absolutely unwilling to acknowledge it.

“Then he might also be the first in all of human history to ascend to the 9th Circle. Wow! I thought Master was amazing, but I guess not. If it’s true that one’s magic skills increase with age, I should also aim to live a long time.”

At my exaggerated language, Master’s cheeks quivered.

‘Huhuhu, come, it’s time for you to be baited.’

With his advanced age, what did he have left? His unique, Aidal-patented pride and stubbornness, of course. I started poking the hive, hurling bait at the Master who once reeled me in for a few pennies in the past.

“Let’s go! Let’s go, I’ll show you. I’ll show you once and for all that black magic is absolutely nothing!”

I would have liked to fly immediately to Altakas and put an end to everything, but that wasn’t a good idea. If something were to happen to Master, there would be no helping the Kallian Continent.

‘Dear Altakas, you may feel a bit of fire up your butt today. Huhuhu.’

I chuckled darkly in my head, thinking about the servants of darkness gathering unawares at the Havis Kingdom borders. Before Rosiathe returned to Havis, I got the kingdom’s key coordinates from her. And today, I would be introducing those bastards to my illustrious Master.

* * *

“Everyone, just a little longer. Once we get past that point, it’ll be the Havis Kingdom.”

At one point, they were distinguished soldiers of the Empire, but then, Emperor Hadveria suddenly declared the Dark Empire. When they heard about the atrocities that no human could commit, the Laviter soldiers left the barracks en masse. Even now, they were a group of over ten thousand moving towards the Bajran and Havis Kingdom borders. Half of them were soldiers, and half were Laviter Empire citizens who followed the soldiers onto the path of escape.

Kuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

They were walking straight ahead in grim silence when they heard the cries of wyverns behind them. The people lifted their heads.

“Ahhh!”

“Death Wyverns! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

“Run! Ruuuuun!”

On the way here, they had encountered Death Wyverns and Death Knights several times.

Rummmmmble.

To their dismay, far in the distance, a group of mounted units was heading their way, kicking up a cloud of dust.

“D-Death Knights!”

The horses had been turned into war chargers of death that primarily ate human flesh instead of grass. Hundreds of Death Knights riding such monstrous horses had appeared. Having already experienced the horror of being shot at with arrows as they fled, the people screamed as they scrambled madly to the border, unaware that the Havis Kingdom border fort was entirely unmanned.

Swooooooooooosh.

The formation of 20 Death Wyverns began to swoop down onto the fleeing people.

Bam! Ba-ba-bam!

“Gaaaaaagh!”

“Aghhh!”

The Death Wyverns plummeted at an incredible speed, giving off the stench of death. They then grabbed human backs and heads with their steel-like claws.The flesh and heads in their vice-like claws were ripped away, blood fountaining out.

The Death Knights that had quickly drawn near on horseback trampled over the elderly or young who had fallen behind, screams mixing with the sound of hooves meeting flesh.

“Guhugh!”

“Gugh…”

Crushed by a rain of hooves, people were kicked aside, broken.

“Waaaaaahhh! Mommmyyyy!!”

The majority of the ones left in the rear were young children, the elderly, and women.

Schwing, schwiiiing.

An emotionless hell soldier mercilessly sliced off the head of the crying child.

Sch-sch-sch-schwip. Babaaaam!

Just then, a blue Blessed Spear punched through the body of one of the Death Knights that were cutting down the people. Skewered all the way into its horse, the Death Knight immediately fell to the ground with a great thud.

However, it didn’t stay down for long. After falling off its horse, the Death Knight pulled out the spear that had penetrated its body with a sickening squelch, raising its emotionless black eyes to look for the enemy above.

“What’re you looking at, bitch?! Show some respect! Burn Flare!”

At that moment, a rough curse and magic incantation rang out above its head.

Booooooom!

A ball of sparks fell onto the Death Knight.

Fwooooooooooosh.

Not even a mighty Death Knight could avoid the flames of this spell. The Death Knight’s body was burnt to a crisp where it stood.

“How dare these stinky bastards flap around! Fuck off, you rotten shits!”

“Master! Don’t forget to show me your skills.”

“Just wait. Oh! Good, that one’ll make a good target. Revolving Fire Storm!”

Of the two people who appeared out of nowhere about 5 meters in the air, the mage with a long, flowing beard uttered an incantation.

Schwaaaaaa!

The spell sucked in all the surrounding atmospheric mana, a sign that it was an incredible spell.

Kuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Screeching, the Death Wyverns flew fiercely towards the new enemy that had appeared.

Swooooooooooooooooosh.

But then, it was over. A storm of rotating flames descended upon the flight of Death Wyverns, which had spread out in order to slaughter the fleeing people.

Fwooooooooooooooooooooooosh. KWEEEEEHHHHH! KYAAAAAAAAAAK!

They supposedly didn’t feel pain, but the throats of the burning Death Wyverns quivered with ear-splitting screams.

“Ehh, there are five wyverns left over there.”

“My poor bones. This is already the third time today. This is exhausting, even for me.”

“Really? I’m sure this would be no problem for Altakas…”

“Where are they?! Where?! Aha, there they are! Blink!”

As soon as Altakas was mentioned, the elderly mage immediately used Blink to reach a straggler.

“Flame Cannon!”

Then, he unleashed a single-target spell, the 6th Circle Flame Cannon.

Booooooom!

An enormous ball of magic smashed into the Death Wyvern’s back.

Fwoooooooooooooosh!

The Death Skyknight was enveloped into the raging flames along with its wyvern.

“Stop right there, you bastards!”

After handling one, the elderly mage turned his furious gaze towards the next victim. All of the fleeing people dazedly watched the unbelievable sight.

“K-Kyre… that person is the Lord of Nerman, Kyre!”

“YEAAHHHHHHHH! IT’S KYRE THE INVINCIBLE!”

A soldier who was once captured as a prisoner in Nerman recognized one of the two mages. That was Count Kyre, a man who was known among the Laviter Army as an invincible knight. He appeared out of nowhere and was annihilating the Death Wyverns and Death Knights.

And with just two people!

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