The Game of a Legendary Genius Dark Mage-Chapter 217

"Hmm."

First, the Dark Lord reacted that way.

And now, even Helena.

Judging from their reactions, they must be referring to the integration of skills.

It certainly feels like something has transcended.

The fusion of skills, the ability to activate dark-element abilities with just a thought—

Should I call this transcendence?

That’s what it feels like.

‘I never thought something like this would be possible in a game.’

Controlling darkness with nothing but imagination.

At first glance, it sounded easy, but in reality, it was anything but.

Imagining darkness and making it writhe, then move according to one’s will?

It was even harder than performing an action perfectly on the first try without ever having done it before.

However—

The moment Seong imagined the spear of darkness in his hand expanding—

The spear grew in size.

Swoooosh!

Then, as he envisioned the spear splitting apart into multiple arrows—

The massive spear shattered, transforming into hundreds of arrows.

Pashashashat!!

Finally, when Seong imagined the arrows disintegrating into countless glass-like shards—

It happened exactly as he had envisioned.

Pababababak!!!

Tens of thousands of fragments scattered through the air.

Watching this, Seong smiled, satisfied.

Meanwhile, his subordinates, who had been observing, stood there slack-jawed.

—Kahaha!!! As expected of our Lord!

—Truly astonishing, my liege!

—A-Amazing!

—Y-Yes, as expected of the master.

"Huh, huhh... You’ve become the true Sovereign of Darkness."

"......And yet, you mastered it instantly. As expected, you are truly remarkable."

Even though his subordinates were far from ordinary individuals—

Every single one of them was in awe of Seong’s display.

They all understood just how difficult it was to manipulate power freely with mere imagination.

So, they couldn’t help but be impressed by what they had just witnessed.

Even Serpina was at a loss for words.

Helena, however, grinned and shouted in excitement.

"Ahahaha! Our Seong is amazing!"

Why Helena was the one boasting, he had no idea.

Regardless—

Seong analyzed his current state and summed up his thoughts.

‘The level of freedom is incredible, but the mana consumption is insane.’

When he shattered the spear into thousands of glass shards,

He had used more mana than it took to control an army of tens of thousands of the Legion of the Dead.

It was an extremely inefficient ability.

Which explained the system message that said he could still use his existing skills as they were.

The original mana consumption remained the same, but this new form allowed for more freedom.

Being able to create whatever dark-element skill he needed on the spot—

It could be considered an advantage in its own right.

If he could manage the mana consumption, then he would be able to wield dark-element skills without limitations.

Was that why they said he had transcended?

"So, what exactly do you mean by ‘transcended’?"

Seong asked.

Helena seemed to ponder for a moment before nodding, as if deciding it was alright to explain.

"Hmm, to put it simply, it means you’ve become a true Sovereign."

"Hmm."

That didn’t really clarify much.

But from the sound of it, it implied transcendence.

Becoming a true Sovereign—

Which meant...

"Does that mean all Sovereign-class beings can become true Sovereigns?"

"Usually, yes. But Overlords are a bit different. Becoming a true Sovereign is also proof that you have the potential to become a Transcendent."

"A Transcendent?"

Seong repeated.

At that moment, a system message appeared before his eyes.

[You have obtained the keyword 『Transcendent』.]

"Yes, Seong, you’re not a Transcendent yet, but you’ve now built the foundation to become one. I can’t tell you everything yet."

"Hmm. I see."

The fact that Helena hesitated and looked troubled midway through her explanation—

That meant there was some system interference at play.

A bit disappointing, but learning this much was already a significant discovery.

He recalled the fragments of Helena’s memories he could access.

Memories about Transcendents surfaced.

They were those who had awakened the true power of a Sovereign.

Right now, Seong had only barely crossed that threshold.

‘There must be something deeper in the system’s design.’

He would have to uncover it gradually.

Even with Helena’s memories, there were limits to what he could see, so if he wanted to know more, he would have to investigate personally.

Either way, he had gained an interesting new skill.

Though the mana consumption was an issue—

With such an unprecedented level of freedom—

‘This opens up countless new possibilities.’

More than anything, he could combine it with existing skills to create all sorts of techniques.

Seong turned his gaze toward the other two Sovereign-class abilities.

The Sovereign of Fear and the Sovereign of Blood.

Would they also evolve after reaching ten or more sub-skills, just like Darkness?

It didn’t seem likely.

As he was considering it—

Helena spoke up, as if reading his thoughts.

"The conditions for awakening true power are different for each one."

"Hmm. The Sovereign of Fear’s abilities changed recently, too."

"When the first stage is fully unlocked and you reach the second stage, you might truly obtain its power. But in Darkness’s case, you were able to achieve it easily because you directly defeated the previous master."

"I see."

So, the conditions were stricter than he had expected.

The Dark Lord was a special case.

That was a bit disappointing, but—

It was actually better this way.

If everything were handed to him too easily, it would ruin the thrill.

Seong nodded in understanding.

Hunting down each power, one by one, would make things more enjoyable.

With that thought, he decided to test out his new skill by scanning his surroundings.

‘Hmm.’

There were no more monsters left in the forest draped in darkness.

With the darkness fading, sunlight now streamed through the treetops.

This wasn’t an ideal place to test his abilities anymore.

‘Time to leave.’

Helena’s journal had been sealed.

His business in Namubuk Village was finished.

There was no reason to stay any longer.

It was best to leave now.

Besides, this place was just the basement of Hexia’s Castle.

There was nowhere left to explore.

And this wasn’t the best environment to experiment with his skills.

He needed a proper hunting ground for that.

With that decision, Seong dismissed his subordinates back to the underworld, except for Helena.

Retracing his steps, he passed the abandoned playground where Narisha and Berto had been.

Eventually, he arrived at the massive doors leading out of Hexia’s basement.

He had seen them before, so he was already familiar with their size.

Standing before them, Seong paused, lost in thought.

"Hmm."

When he first entered the basement, the door had opened automatically.

Would it do the same now?

Seong stepped forward, but the door remained shut. He frowned, staring at it in confusion.

Helena chuckled.

"Why not try using the power of the Sovereign of Darkness?"

"Ah."

This place was practically designed for him to acquire that power.

Proving his mastery over it should be enough to open the door.

Helena had a point.

Without hesitation, Seong activated the power of the Sovereign of Darkness.

Immediately—

Ssssss.

From beneath his feet, an otherworldly darkness unfurled, swallowing all light in its wake.

A manifestation of his will, the darkness responded exactly as he envisioned.

He extended his control, letting tendrils of darkness slither toward the door.

The moment the darkness touched it, part of it was absorbed into the door—

And without any indication of when it happened, the once-sealed entrance now stood wide open.

"Thanks, Helena."

"Fufufu, Seong, you would’ve figured it out on your own if you’d thought about it for a second."

Despite her humble words, Helena looked immensely pleased with herself.

Seong glanced at her, smiling faintly before stepping through the door.

Just like the first time, his body was pulled in as if being swallowed whole.

And when he emerged—

As expected, he stood before the doors of Hexia’s underground chamber.

However, there was one distinct difference from when he first entered.

"......Hmm?"

"You have returned. We shall escort you."

Instead of Kalina, who had worn that grotesquely twisted doll mask—

A group of other Black Mages now stood before him.

It didn’t particularly matter who was present.

But just as Seong was about ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) to brush it off—

Something rumbled from beyond the castle walls.

No—

A tremor.

Kuung.

Kwaaaaaaaang!

Even though the castle was quite a distance away from whatever was causing it,

The vibrations and explosions could be felt clearly.

Something was happening.

Seong tilted his head in curiosity.

Noticing his reaction, the Black Mages bowed deeply and spoke in unison.

"Lady Kalina is currently exterminating intruders who have invaded Hexia."

"It is of no concern to you, my Lord."

"...Extermination?"

An invasion in Hexia?

Against Overpalace—one of the most powerful factions in this world?

Seong’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the Black Mages.

They either genuinely had no interest in the matter or were deliberately withholding details.

However—

"Then, can you take me to Kalina?"

If they refused, that would tell him something. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓

But to his surprise—

"We shall escort you immediately."

"We shall summon Lady Kalina at once."

"We obey our Lord's will!"

They didn’t just agree; they took it a step further.

Summon her?

Wasn’t Kalina busy?

Was it really fine to call her now?

She was in the middle of dealing with enemies.

He was about to question them further when—

A strange distortion rippled through the space behind him.

Seong turned his head.

The very fabric of reality twisted.

Then, a pale, skeletal hand—bleached white like polished bone—ripped through the air and pulled something forth.

Rip!

Stepping out of the void, Kalina emerged.

Her grotesque doll mask was immediately discarded, her dark-indigo hair cascading in waves as she knelt before him.

"You have awakened the power of Darkness. Congratulations. Welcome back, my Lord."

"......You seemed busy."

Seong asked, caught off guard by how quickly she had arrived.

Kalina answered without hesitation.

"There is no task in this world more important than answering your call, my Lord."

"......Right."

"Once again, congratulations on mastering Darkness."

"Hmm."

She was a formidable figure.

She had realized his transformation immediately.

Well, it made sense.

She ruled over a domain like this; of course, she would be strong.

But more importantly—

Who was the enemy that even an NPC like Kalina had to deal with?

Curiosity stirred within him.

He asked.

"Who exactly attacked?"

Was there really an organization bold enough to stand against Overpalace?

If so, this was getting interesting.

As Seong pondered the possibilities—

Kalina bowed her head slightly, as if the answer was too insignificant to dwell on.

"It was nothing significant. A foolish hero wandered into Hexia, so I simply frightened him away."

"......???"

Seong blinked.

He had just heard something completely baffling.

He stood in stunned silence for a moment.

Then, his eyes widened.

"A hero?"

That hero.

The same one who had narrowly escaped last time—

Had come back?

0.

Deep within the forests near Hexia—

A long, gaping trench stretched across the ground.

It hadn’t been there before.

It had just been created moments ago.

And at the very end of that trench—

"Cough!"

A young man crawled out, blood dripping from his lips.

"I... I almost died..."

None other than the current hero—

Or rather, the would-be hero.

Luke.

Still coughing up blood, he glanced at the pendant hanging from his neck.

"Haaah..."

A legendary artifact—one that could save his life three times per day.

But now—

Its glow had faded.

It had turned dull gray.

Meaning—

‘I... almost died three times?’

Luke stared at it in disbelief.

Then he let out a bitter laugh.

"Heh. Ha!"

He sprawled out on the ground, staring up at the sky.

He hadn’t even stepped into the city.

Just approaching had resulted in this.

No wonder they told him to avoid a direct confrontation with Overpalace.

He had been insanely lucky last time.

Back then, Overpalace’s envoys had merely observed him and let him go.

But now, he truly understood how fortunate he had been.

He was still trying to decide what to do next when—

Rip.

A skeletal, white-boned hand tore through space itself.

And from that rift—

Two figures stepped out.

Click. Click.

One wore high heels, their steps light and precise.

Thud. Thud.

The other’s boots were heavier, their stride exuding a sense of immense weight.

Hearing those sounds, Luke instinctively tensed.

His body screamed at him to be cautious.

Rising shakily to his feet, he prepared himself for whatever came next.

But then—

One of the newcomers spoke.

A young man’s voice.

"......Hindel?"

Luke’s eyes widened.

That name.

The name of the legendary hero.

Spoken by a stranger.

But—

The young man wasn’t looking at him.

Instead—

His gaze was locked onto something else.

What the hell was going on?