The Game of a Legendary Genius Dark Mage-Chapter 350

2.

It had already been quite some time since Seong, Helena, Veladrina, Serpina, and Fiora had arrived at this place.

And yet, the reason they hadn’t made any progress was simple.

The Intelligence Knights hadn’t entered yet.

As the first to arrive at the tomb, Seong was greeted by an unusual system message.

[The Tomb of the Masked Lord is a team battle.]

[When three or more teams of five are assembled, the trial will begin.]

“Ah.”

It wasn’t any special reason—just a restriction on the number of participants.

Even arriving early, there was nothing they could do.

But now, that was no longer the case.

[A new team has entered the tomb.]

[Current number of people inside: 30]

[Six teams have entered.]

[The trial will begin.]

The area where Seong and the four women stood began to change.

Like an elevator descending into the ground, the floor began to move downward.

Ku-gu-gu-gu.

The walls scraped and groaned from the friction.

But no one showed any signs of worry or fear.

Fiora trembled slightly, but it was more an expression than genuine fear.

Or was it?

Seong briefly considered it.

But he quickly dismissed the thought.

How long had they been descending?

Eventually, the heavy movement stopped.

Clunk.

A mechanical connection sounded, and the scenery changed. They arrived in a chamber filled with countless masks painted with clown-like faces.

The appearance of the clowns gave off an eerie feeling.

Still, aside from Fiora, no one reacted strongly.

Just then—

One of the walls began to open, and something wearing a mask appeared.

It wasn’t a living creature.

Its joints were unnaturally mechanical, like a wooden puppet, though it wasn’t actually made of wood—it had a similar artificial quality.

The mask it wore bore the same clown face as those lining the walls.

Screeeech.

It moved, letting out an unsettling noise.

At some point, the puppet-like creature was holding a sword, and Seong’s group all prepared to move.

Seeing it hold a sword—

It seemed to be a melee type.

As Seong reached to draw his weapon, Helena reacted first, smiling slyly and gesturing for Veladrina to take the lead.

—Your Majesty, that’s not a sword!

At that shout, Seong immediately reacted.

What he felt was cold energy.

Sensing that, Seong summoned the power of the Inferno Lord.

At the same time, the clown mask swung its sword.

Where Seong reached out, violet flames surged up, forming a wall, and the swing of the clown mask didn’t release a slash—it unleashed a howling storm of freezing wind.

Then, ice spears formed instantly and flew toward the wall of violet fire.

Fwoooosh——!!!

But the hellfire that incinerated everything melted all the ice spears, easily blocking them.

At that moment, Veladrina’s eyes turned black as she raised her hand toward the ceiling.

A black sun formed in response.

Even though they were indoors, the black sun manifested clearly in Veladrina’s hand, spreading black flames throughout the area.

With a single gesture, those black flames surged and shot toward the clown mask, which swung its sword again.

Suddenly, light flared—

It illuminated the black flames and extinguished them all.

—It’s stronger than I expected. But if Your Majesty would allow me the chance, I shall attempt to subdue it.

Veladrina ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ spoke earnestly, and Seong nodded after a brief moment of thought. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

He had wanted to see Veladrina’s combat prowess anyway.

She had shown tremendous skill in intelligence and infiltration operations, but he had yet to witness the battle prowess worthy of her title, “Mistress of the Black Sun.”

When Seong gave his silent approval with a nod, Serpina and Fiora stepped back.

Serpina seemed a bit disappointed she couldn’t take part, but Fiora smiled and muttered excitedly.

—Oh, it’s been so long since I’ve gotten to watch Lady Veladrina fight!

“Yeah. Should be fun, right?”

Helena responded with a gentle smile, and hearing that, Seong grew even more curious as he watched the two engage.

First of all—

What exactly is that clown mask’s power?

Its powers were strange, contradictory even.

It had dispersed Veladrina’s black flames—not by magic or slashing them—but with a sword swing, as if by some kind of illusion.

Given the clown appearance...

Was it meant to evoke a sense of magic or sleight of hand?

That crossed Seong’s mind.

But he didn’t jump to conclusions.

Better to just watch for now.

At that moment, the clown mask that had devoured Veladrina’s black flame began to move.

Clatter-clatter-clatter.

It moved quickly.

But Veladrina was no slower.

Drawing power from the black sun she had summoned earlier, she shaped the flames into sharp thorns—countless black lines—firing them at the creature.

However, the clown mask’s speed outpaced even Veladrina.

Dodging every attack, it closed the distance to stand right in front of her.

Then the sword in its hand suddenly turned into a staff.

Seeing that, Veladrina waved her hand with distaste, summoning a black flame barrier.

When the clown mask swung its staff at the barrier, Veladrina flicked her finger, reacting despite already having a shield in place.

In that same instant, a razor-like aura burst from the staff and sliced clean through the shield.

Slice——!

The barrier was cut through, and it looked like Veladrina herself had been struck.

But the image of Veladrina wavered and then exploded, unleashing scorching heat in a massive blast.

BOOOOM——!!!

The fierce surge of black flames engulfed the area with a violent shockwave.

Yet no one panicked.

Everyone stayed focused on the fight, and Veladrina reappeared, conjuring a black flame orb like a miniature sun and throwing it at the center of the blast.

Of course, the clown mask emerged from the blast zone.

Not a scratch on it.

It had survived unscathed and retreated backward.

Watching this, Veladrina muttered as if she finally understood.

—Hmph, just as I thought.

As if she’d immediately identified its true nature.

But no one else present knew what she meant.

—It’s the Mask of Deception.

Screeech.

The clown mask responded by twisting its neck at an unnatural angle and letting out a grotesque sound, as if acknowledging her words.

But Veladrina ignored it and kept attacking.

Seong watched with admiration.

He could clearly tell how sharp Veladrina’s mind and tactics were.

The mask with the clown’s face, just as Veladrina said, was the Mask of Deception.

In other words, everything it showed was the opposite of reality.

It constantly used tricks.

Even now.

When Veladrina launched another attack, the clown mask drew a dagger and slashed through the air—

And her attack exploded midair, as if hitting an invisible wall.

A dagger that acts as a shield, huh.

Seong grasped it instantly.

And of course, if that clown mask was the Mask of Deception...

It was predictable.

Veladrina knew that too.

She let black flames churn around her, spreading them toward the Mask of Deception.

As it tried to swiftly retreat—

Veladrina’s eyes flashed, and she launched an attack at the black shadow left behind where the mask had dodged.

Then—

Crackle-crack-crack.

A breaking sound echoed, and the clown masks that had filled the walls began to fracture and fall apart one by one.

Even those visible masks hadn’t been the real body.

Veladrina, having quickly deduced that, had attacked the shadow—and succeeded.

—I have eliminated the foe standing in Your Majesty’s path.

Veladrina bowed deeply, and Seong nodded.

It was truly impressive.

Stronger than expected, but she took it down quickly.

The mechanics were a bit obvious, but that didn’t mean the real body had been easy to find.

The shadow was so faint it was nearly imperceptible—and Veladrina had instantly identified and struck it.

That alone was remarkable.

In any case, it was done.

Wasn’t that all that mattered?

As Seong thought that—

A system message appeared before him.

[You have defeated the Mask of Deception in the Masked Trial.]

[You have acquired the 『Mask of Deception』.]

With that message, the Mask of Deception appeared in Seong’s hand.

So they had to collect these masks as they passed the trials?

He didn’t fully understand the system yet.

I’ll figure it out as I go.

Thinking calmly, Seong responded to the next system prompt.

[Do you wish to challenge the next trial?]

[Yes / No]

[If you end the trial now, you can exit with your current rewards.]

It sounded a bit tempting.

But it didn’t work on Seong.

He hadn’t come this far just to stop now.

“I challenge the trial.”

As Seong spoke, the floor beneath him began to rumble again, descending like an elevator and delivering him to another chamber filled with new masks.

What kind of mask is it this time?

This time, the walls were lined with masks bearing melting, sagging faces.

Then the wall opened, and a new puppet appeared—wearing a melting, almost liquefied face.

—U-um... C-could I try this time?

Fiora asked cautiously.

Seong wanted to fight too, but it wasn’t a boss battle.

“Sure, go ahead.”

As Seong granted permission, the other two—aside from Helena—showed a bit of disappointment.

But neither moved to interfere.

As Fiora stepped forward, they returned to Seong’s side.

Just what kind of mask is that melting one?

As they watched with curiosity and anticipation—

Elsewhere, the Intelligence Knights’ team—the one without a vice-captain—was lying on the floor, vomiting blood.

Not one of them was unscathed.

Four out of five had died.

And the last survivor, gravely wounded, looked at the puppets surrounding him.

They wore masks layered with multiple overlapping faces.

And even now—

Crackle... hissss...

“A-it’s still... multiplying... GAAAAH!”

Those were his last words before the final knight was overrun by the masked puppets.

And then, a system message appeared before everyone.

[Current number of people in the tomb: 25]

[Teams undergoing trials: 5]

The trials were still ongoing.