Chapter 58: Supreme Mage Kim Song-cheol (2)

Cheon Hui-ryeong finished her cultivation.

The *Amcheon-gi*, which had been coursing powerfully through the pressure points of her entire body, returned to her dantian.

She opened her eyes and exhaled deeply. Her deep, dark eyes sparkled like obsidian.

She was currently in a training room, a narrow and dark space.

Cheon Hui-ryeong rose from her seat, opened the door, and stepped outside.

In the spacious and luxurious living room, a middle-aged man sat on the sofa. He was dressed in a well-fitted suit.

“Has your training finished well?”

He was a director of the Ilwol Corporation, Sa Gwang, also known as the Gwangrangseongma.

In contrast to his nickname, “Mad Wolf,” his long, snake-like eyes gave off a sinister atmosphere.

“The item?”

Cheon Hui-ryeong ignored his question and asked one of her own.

“Hmm, it is right here. This is the Socheondan.”

Sa Gwang took a small wooden box from the inner pocket of his suit.

When he opened the lid, a red medicinal pill was revealed, and a sharp, heavy scent immediately reached the tip of Cheon Hui-ryeong’s nose.

However, far from savoring the scent, her eyes narrowed sharply.

“I believe I told you to prepare the Daecheondan?”

“Please understand my situation as well. I barely managed to obtain the Socheondan… One cannot achieve great things by treating subordinates so harshly. Haha.”

“If you were my subordinate, I would not have treated you that way. Do you think I am unaware that you are making deals with both sides?”

Cheon Hui-ryeong snapped coldly, but Sa Gwang gave a sly smile without showing any sign of fear.

“For now, I am a subordinate. No matter if you were born to an ordinary woman who knows nothing of martial arts, are you not still of the ‘God-Demon’ bloodline? I cannot challenge the Chairman’s authority.”

While pretending to be polite, Sa Gwang skillfully rattled off words intended to irritate her.

Cheon Hui-ryeong walked over and snatched the wooden box from his hand.

“Prepare the Daecheondan next time.”

“Hmm, I cannot engage in a losing business. After all, you are still a young tiger, milady. If you were at least the fifth child instead of the nineteenth…”

“In terms of martial talent, I am the best.”

Cheon Hui-ryeong cut him off.

“Unless your eyes are useless knots of wood, you cannot deny it. What else is necessary besides that?”

The best among the bloodline of the God-Demon.

She was truly the best of the best.

“I believe I told you. It is about certainty.”

“Haha, the directors have heavy backsides. The second young master’s succession is already being prepared… If the Chairman were here, there would be no reason for me to come here and endure the look in your eyes that says you are ‘forced to hold a dirty hand.’ Is all of this not happening because the Chairman is absent? Therefore…”

Sa Gwang’s smile deepened.

“Make them certain. Show them a sign. Then, I will at least put you on the stage. So that you can compete once with the second young master.”

Cheon Hui-ryeong glared at Sa Gwang. Sa Gwang calmly savored the *Amcheon-gi* flowing from her entire body.

Indeed, her martial talent was the best.

Finally, Cheon Hui-ryeong’s red lips opened.

“…Wait.”

“Oho.”

“I will bring that sign.”

Cheon Hui-ryeong turned around and headed outside. Sa Gwang’s voice followed after her.

“I trust you know that there isn’t much time. Haha.”

***

“Monsters!”

The Haetae Team encountered a herd of Unicorns.

There were approximately twenty of them. It was a fairly large herd.

In the past, they would have avoided them, but things were different now.

“Let’s go!”

Without any special plan, Kim Jong-won and Song Young-jin drew their swords and rushed forward.

Behind them, the magic of Park Joo-hyun and Kim Su-jin followed.

*Crash!*

As the two spells hit different Unicorns, the swordsmen leaped in and swung their blades.

*Zap.*

It was then that Kim Song-cheol’s magic was activated.

Magic Circles flickered simultaneously in front of him.

Red lightning shot out from the Magic Circles.

It was a Lightning Spear applied with the Second Tier formula, ‘FULMEN RUBRUM.’

Beyond just twisting multiple strands of electricity, the electrical discharge was compressed into a single line.

Five blood-red spears of light crossed the air with a chilling intensity.

*Pzzzt!*

The five light spears flew in a straight line and pierced through different Unicorns.

The sound of the piercing wasn’t even loud.

It was an electrical discharge accompanied by intense heat.

It melted through the hides, pierced the torsos, and exited the other side.

Of course, the attack didn’t end there.

As Kim Song-cheol flicked his five fingers as if playing a piano, the light spears scattered in all directions and shot toward other Unicorns.

After achieving Il-won, his power to intervene with his will in his magic had grown significantly.

He was now able to not just slightly shift the angle, but even make them orbit.

A mere five Lightning Spears of the 2nd Circle killed thirteen Unicorns before vanishing.

He had originally targeted fifteen, but two of them barely survived because the Lightning Spears had lost power while piercing through trees.

Of course, their breath was cut short by the following magic.

One could say they survived for about three more seconds.

“What? When did they die?”

Song Young-jin, who had just turned around after cutting down a Unicorn, raised his brows.

A Unicorn had been behind him just a moment ago, but now there was only a warm lump of meat.

As he watched this, Kim Song-cheol’s gaze lowered.

‘Is this place like this?’

He was looking at the Point values floating at the bottom of his vision.

Originally, catching one Unicorn would consistently grant 1,268 Points.

But today, it was 1,267 Points.

The Points had decreased.

If the Points had been fluctuating all along, he might not have noticed, but because he had been receiving the same amount, it stood out.

Kim Song-cheol had nearly reached the limit of the D-rank Dungeon.

If he became any stronger, it seemed the Points would gradually decrease until they converged to zero.

‘I’ve become strong too quickly because of Il-won.’

He had achieved Il-won and learned quite a lot of magic.

Considering the average difficulty of a D-rank Dungeon, Kim Song-cheol was at a level that completely broke the scale.

“He’s looking around again.”

Song Young-jin approached while wiping his sword.

He was speaking to Kim Su-jin.

“That woman might appear…”

Kim Su-jin stopped mid-sentence and pointed in one direction.

“Look at that! She’s here!”

At her words, the eyes of all the team members turned toward that direction.

There, Cheon Hui-ryeong and the two men were walking toward them, wearing the same tracksuits as before.

This was a wasteland.

Under the hot sunlight, the three figures shimmered beyond the heat haze.

Kim Song-cheol naturally stepped forward and prepared to meet the expected visitors.

Dust blew between the two sides.

Cheon Hui-ryeong, who had approached, stood before Kim Song-cheol.

As expected, her long hair was tied up high.

A black hair tie fluttered along with her hair.

Cheon Hui-ryeong’s gaze was indifferent, but she was inwardly surprised.

‘Seoncheonjigi…?’

It was because of the feeling radiating from Kim Song-cheol. When they met before, she only felt a *pure yang energy*, but now it was different.

An energy as thick and vivid as *seoncheonjigi* was spreading from him.

‘Just what did he do?’

When he asked for a month of time, she thought he was just stalling.

But the Mage before her eyes had actually achieved something during that time.

And something incredible at that.

“…It seems you are ready, Mage.”

Cheon Hui-ryeong threw out the first remark.

Kim Song-cheol responded by merely smacking his lips.

He didn’t think he could avoid this anyway.

If Cheon Hui-ryeong followed him to fight, he had no choice but to face her.

The other team members might get hurt.

“Well, let’s do this. It won’t be easy.”

As Kim Song-cheol reached out one hand, Cheon Hui-ryeong curled her hand into a fist with a small smile.

The two men behind her retreated far back, and the Haetae Team members followed suit upon seeing that.

“I will yield three moves to you.”

Cheon Hui-ryeong spoke. This was something she had decided since she first requested the duel, and she couldn’t change her mind just because Kim Song-cheol had become stronger.

She had her own sense of ethics.

It was a self-imposed penalty for being the one to request the duel.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm…”

Kim Song-cheol pondered for a moment while scratching his cheek, then swept both hands down forcefully.

A massive Magic Circle formed in an instant in front of him, and a large red light flared in his hands.

It was unusual.

The heat radiating from the red light was even changing the flow of the surrounding air.

“…BOLT BRINGER.”

As Kim Song-cheol thrust both hands forward, two red lights traveled in a straight line before twisting around each other to form a spiral.

Cheon Hui-ryeong’s eyes widened.

The red spiral was reflected in her obsidian-like pupils.

‘This…!’

She instantly boosted her internal energy to the ten-star level.

Wasn’t this attack a bit excessive for someone who had just been scratching his cheek?

Her hair momentarily stood on end toward the sky, and black energy exploded around her.

*Boom!*

Black energy was fired from her fist, which she thrust at an almost invisible speed, clashing against the red spiral.

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

Her fists were relentlessly fired at the red spiral.

Each time, black energy exploded, boasting an ominous momentum.

The red spiral did not scatter despite the punches and instead pushed Cheon Hui-ryeong back.

The moment her feet, which had been firmly planted on the ground, slid back slightly, her brow furrowed and both her palms thrust forward.

*Crash!*

In an instant, the trajectory of the red spiral twisted and changed its path to the right.

But before Cheon Hui-ryeong could even breathe a sigh of relief, the trajectory of the spiral curved again and rushed toward her.

Cheon Hui-ryeong clenched her teeth.

The black energy surrounding her entire body gathered at a single point in front of her fist, and as she threw the punch, a pitch-black light sliced through the space.

*Shick!*

Not a massive explosion, but a small noise swept the surroundings.

The moment the black light pierced the red spiral, the red light miraculously scattered and soaked into the air.

The two looked at each other. They were surprised by one another.

Just now, Kim Song-cheol had fired the strongest magic he could without collapsing.

Cheon Hui-ryeong had also used the secret technique of the Dark Heaven Dance.

One was magic practiced for less than a month and the other was martial arts practiced for a lifetime, but for now, it was an exchange of their trump cards.

Cheon Hui-ryeong, who barely managed to steady her ragged breathing, spoke.

“…That was two moves just now.”

“Wasn’t it one?”

“The strike was launched once, but it attacked twice, so it is two moves.”

“Is that so? Then I have one move left, right?”

“…Correct.”

Cheon Hui-ryeong drew up a massive amount of internal energy and prepared for the next attack.

The tips of her fingers tingled with tension.

She wasn’t sure if she could block it if a stronger attack came.

“However.”

*Flash!*

What flew out was a single strand of red light.

With a cold expression, Cheon Hui-ryeong simply waved her hand.

She had to use a fair amount of energy, but it was nothing compared to the first attack.

The red light was driven straight into the ground.

“…Are you mocking me?”

“No, I just thought it was too unfair for only me to be attacking.”

Kim Song-cheol smirked, unlike his usual self.

If he wanted to take the immediate advantage, it would be right to use Bolt Bringer once more.

However, using the same attack twice would be the same as telling her that it was his best attack.

Furthermore, Kim Song-cheol had seen Cheon Hui-ryeong’s expression clearly.

Her ever-changing expression told him that the black beam she fired at the end was her strongest technique.

Kim Song-cheol had figured out her trump card, while Cheon Hui-ryeong was unaware of his.

He had decided to capitalize on the information gap.

‘I feel like she’ll fall for it immediately if I play around a bit…’

Kim Song-cheol was already considering close-quarters combat.

If he added an informational advantage to that, he would be holding a significantly favorable position.

“…You will regret this.”

Cheon Hui-ryeong spat out the words. It seemed she felt she had been deceived.

The three yielded moves were already over.

The moment Cheon Hui-ryeong slightly bent her knees, her body shot forward.

*Boom!*

He tried to stop her charge with a Shield, but a bundle of Shields was shattered by her fist.

A subsequent spell sliced through the air, but the opponent was no longer there.

Her figure, closing the distance second by second, was caught on the edge of his vision.

‘She’s damn fast.’

Kim Song-cheol immediately activated OVER BRAIN.

And so, the world slowed down for a moment.