The Game of a Legendary Genius Dark Mage-Chapter 316

As soon as they dealt with the two demons at the entrance,

The group advanced into the mine.

And then—

“Hmmm.”

“Ugh.”

“Khmm.”

“......”

“......”

The moment they stepped inside, the stench of demonic energy made everyone grimace.

Babaros nearly gagged—he looked seconds away from vomiting.

The demonic energy was overwhelming.

The two knights, on the other hand, actually felt at ease within the demonic energy, but they made no sign of it.

All five, including Seong, were momentarily disoriented by the heavy atmosphere, but soon refocused and pressed on.

The place no longer felt like a regular mine—it had transformed into something more akin to an ant colony.

The deeper they explored the twisted tunnels, the more abnormal it felt.

“This is strange,” Seong murmured.

The group stopped at once.

What was strange?

They all waited for him to elaborate.

In a low voice, he said, “It’s strange that we haven’t encountered a single demon up to this point.”

The two knights flinched internally but kept up the act flawlessly.

“Maybe it’s just the outer edge,” one said.

“Could be that they’re concentrated toward the center,” added the other.

“It’s dangerous to scout too deep,” Seong mused, “but turning back here would mean leaving empty-handed.” 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

“Let’s keep going,” said Babaros and Will in agreement.

Seong nodded, preparing to resume.

The knights began to move again—but in that instant,

A silvery galaxy bloomed in the air.

Like a slowly expanding cosmos, a river of stars unfurled.

The dazzling light of that galactic stream cascaded toward the knights’ throats.

It seemed so slow, so beautiful—they tried to dodge,

Only to realize—

The galaxy wasn’t slow.

The world had slowed down.

Their perception had heightened in the face of death.

The demonic energy allowed them that much.

But the galaxy—imbued with anti-magic—severed through demonic energy itself, and their bodies couldn’t keep up.

They could feel the blades cut through their necks in slow motion—

FSSSHHHHH—!!!

Before blood could splatter, Seong used a skill to block the spray from hitting them.

The two heads rolled to the ground, eyes wide in shock, as their mouths tried to form words.

“Wh... y...?”

“Dis... cov... ered...”

Because of the demonic energy, they were slightly removed from humanity,

Allowing their severed heads to speak—grotesque and horrifying.

Seong stood over them and answered,

“I already knew the Kingdom of Rieskan was colluding with demons.”

“Bast... ards...”

“Unforgiv... able...”

They couldn’t finish their last words before their bodies crumbled away.

Will and Babaros felt no pity.

These were the very people who commanded demons and framed dark mages.

For one petty reason—

“They thought they could somehow take down Lady Helena. That alone is disgusting,” Will spat.

And he was right.

They had abandoned humanity and joined hands with the Demon Realm in order to conquer the world by eliminating Helena.

They had even allied with a Demon Duke.

“Good thing I got that intel.”

Seong had learned of that alliance when he had posed as Malcom.

There were other details, too:

“No demon nobles present.”

Mostly low-rank demons, with mid-ranks acting as managers.

And one final note—

“There’s a single high-rank demon.”

Not noble class, but just below it—almost considered a noble due to their strength.

Effectively, a high-rank demon was close to nobility.

The low-ranks weren’t a problem.

But the mid- and high-ranks were dangerous.

They’d need to watch out for those.

First, though—

“Now that we’ve eliminated them, others will come looking—their contractors are dead.”

Babaros and Will both nodded.

They had already discussed this beforehand and were prepared.

Both concealed themselves with stealth spells.

Soon after, demons appeared at the scene.

“The contractors’ signals were cut off here.”

“What happened?”

Twenty-one demons flooded in.

That was a lot, considering there were supposedly only around a hundred total.

Seong had expected only low-ranks—

But he sensed a stronger presence among them.

A flickering gray aura distorted space around one of the demons.

Seong instinctively recognized it as a mid-rank.

“They all have hearts.”

Usually, demons kept their hearts elsewhere.

But all of these demons were carrying them directly.

Odd, but Seong didn’t care.

He telepathically contacted the others.

“I’ll take the mid-rank.”

“Understood.”

“Yes.”

Babaros and Will would have to handle the rest,

But no one hesitated.

They all moved swiftly, with focus.

Seong began by summoning his subordinates.

The tunnel was too narrow to summon them all, so he chose seven:

Leonic, Valtar, and Silvanor (knights),

Helena and Serpina (mages),

Fiora and Barfur (tank roles).

Barfur, Leonic, Valtar, and Serpina charged at the low-rank demons to assist Will and Babaros.

Fiora, Silvanor, and Helena stayed with Seong to support him against the mid-rank.

The sudden appearance of powerful summons and fighters startled the demons—

But being vicious creatures, they reacted fast, having prepared for ambush scenarios.

They immediately charged back into battle.

Will went first.

He unleashed a horde of spirits he had kept hidden, sweeping the area.

The demons laughed mockingly.

“Kahaha! Summoning spirits against us!?”

“How pathetic!”

“Let us show you the power of our own summoned spirits!”

A few of the demons summoned spirits in retaliation—

Their forces clashed mid-air.

But—

The spirits summoned by the demons, burdened by demonic pain, were helpless against Will’s empowered dark spirits.

It was as if they were elemental opposites.

The demons flinched.

“W-what the hell!?”

“Dark magic imitating demonic arts—how is it this strong!?”

“I—it makes no sense!”

“Don’t just stand there! Draw your weapons! Use your magic!”

Low-rank demons could only use one magic skill.

If they imbued it with curses or seals, they might gain the advantage—

But the moment they tried to activate it—

“KHAHAHA! Valtarok—no, I, Valtar, will slaughter you!!!”

“Still pretending, are we? Maybe you should quit knighthood and take up acting.”

Two knights appeared and cut them down.

They targeted demons mid-casting and severed their throats—

Then destroyed their hearts.

Even while bickering, the two displayed immense skill.

But Barfur and Serpina didn’t like what they were seeing.

“...Would you focus, please?”

“Sigh. Stop bickering and focus, will you?”

“...Ahem.”

“Fine.”

The two fell in line and joined the others in dispatching the demons.

Everything proceeded smoothly.

Babaros, too, unleashed powerful spells, killing demons one by one.

The twenty low-rank demons stood no chance.

Most of them fell before they could even activate their skills.

Meanwhile, Will sensed something strange.

As he pierced demon hearts and destroyed the demonic energy within,

He noticed a curious difference in nature.

“Ah...”

Darkness, in and of itself, is just darkness.

It holds no malice—it simply exists.

But demonic energy... is different.

It’s corrupted.

It spreads corruption, weakens, and carries malice.

If dark magic is darkness, then demonic energy is corrupted darkness.

Will remembered what Helena had once explained.

The difference between dark magic and demonic energy.

And at that moment—

Will’s dark power burst outward.

Babaros widened his eyes.

“W-what is that!?”

His shock momentarily froze him, and Serpina frowned.

She recognized it instantly.

“That... is an Awakening.”

It was the shedding of a layer—the moment of enlightenment for a dark mage.

And—

“...He’s on the verge of becoming a Lord.”

At Serpina’s words, Babaros turned to her in alarm.

What now?

She spoke calmly but firmly.

“We must protect him. If that realization is lost, it’ll be catastrophic. He might even die.”

For someone usually composed and serene like Serpina to say that—

The others instinctively encircled Will, forming a protective formation.

Babaros did the same.

A system message appeared:

[The protagonist of the scenario, 『Will Baghdad』, is undergoing Awakening.]

[Protect 『Will Baghdad』 until his Awakening completes.]

He had to be defended while rooted in place, consumed by realization.

The difficulty had just skyrocketed.

“Well, it is a Legendary-class scenario, after all.”

Babaros kept the demons away while defending Will.

Thankfully, most had already been dealt with—

Only the mid-rank demon Seong was fighting remained.

Around Seong, galaxies and starlight swirled, relentlessly attacking the mid-rank.

The demon fought back with everything it had, trying to kill Seong and his subordinates—

But it wasn’t enough.

Finally, Seong’s blade pierced the demon’s ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) heart.

The core of demonic energy shattered, and the creature disintegrated.

Seong exhaled in relief.

He had ignored the others once he sent in his subordinates—

But when a system message popped up mid-battle, he had refocused and pressed the attack.

That had secured his win.

But now—

“...No sign of Will waking up.”

“Looks like we’ll have to defend here.”

At Babaros’ words, Seong nodded.

They had to hold this position.

And Will, radiating raw dark power, would be a beacon for enemies.

A grim situation—and sure enough...

Rumble...

The sound of enemies approaching echoed in the distance.

Already?

Seong and Babaros said nothing as they readied for battle.

Their summoned subordinates did the same.