The Game of a Legendary Genius Dark Mage-Chapter 354

Once again, Seong struck down the wearer of the Blood Mask in a single blow.

Just like with the Mask of Multiplication, even witnessing it again left Baren and the other investigation team members in awe.

“Whoa, one hit again?”

“He’s on a whole other level.”

“Good lord...”

The viewers were no different.

The Blood Mask had definitely looked more powerful than the Multiplication Mask. But to see it felled in one shot?

Another one-shot??

Insane;;;

Might not be a raid boss, but that thing was at least field boss level. Unreal.

Never thought I’d see a Demon King raid on Baren’s channel lol

I’m literally just speechless lol

While everyone was reacting that way, Seong was still thinking about the Masked Lord—when something odd caught his eye.

[Current number of individuals inside the tomb: 24]

Huh?

The count had decreased.

Something felt off. Seong acted immediately.

He opened the system map and called out.

“The room ahead—it’s flickering.”

He wasn’t sure what it meant, but it looked ominous.

The others, who had been admiring him, froze at his words.

The number of people had suddenly dropped.

One of the Infiltration Knights teams had already been wiped out, so there should have been 25 left.

But now it was 24.

And now one of the lights—normally stable—was flickering.

There was no doubt the two were connected.

One team was still on the second floor, unchanged. But the nearest team’s light was flashing.

Baren quickly responded to the situation.

“Find the groove!”

“Hurry, we need to find it fast!”

“Now, move!”

The investigators sprang into action, and Seong ordered his vassals to help search as well.

While Seong was searching, Veladrina found it first.

— Your Majesty, I’ve located it.

“Oh! Well done!”

— It was nothing, Your Majesty.

After praising her, Seong quickly slotted the Blood Mask into the groove and selected the prompt to enter the next trial.

As before, the room began to shift.

But this time, it felt slow—painfully so.

In that tense moment, someone shouted:

[Current number of individuals inside the tomb: 23]

“Another one’s gone!”

Seeing the number drop again, the investigators bit their lips in frustration.

Maybe it was another team, but chances were high it was more of their own.

They wanted to save the NPCs, but the room’s movement was agonizingly slow.

Eventually, they began to see something as the room shifted—reflections. Masks glinting like mirrors.

A mirror-masked puppet was attacking NPCs—and a lone user was protecting them.

The user, startled at first by the rumbling ground, froze in confusion, then shouted in surprise when ten people suddenly entered the room.

“W-Wait, Baren?!”

Recognizing the familiar face, the user called out in shock.

Seong narrowed his eyes and raised a hand.

At that moment, a death soldier appeared and slammed its fist into the mirror mask.

KWAANG—!!!

With a deafening crash, the mirror-masked puppet was smashed into the wall.

“Oh!”

“As expected of the Demon King!”

“?????? What’s the Demon King doing here?”

“W-Who is that?”

“A-Amazing.”

The investigator who had been in the room cheered, while the NPCs, seeing Seong for the first time, stared in awe. Even the last surviving user gaped in recognition.

Viewers couldn’t help but laugh at the scene.

LMAO

That’s exactly how we felt lol

Bro why are you here??????

Seriously though, what the hell lmao

While everyone laughed—

Seong squinted. Something didn’t feel right.

He looked at his hand, where he had just summoned a powerful death soldier using the powers of the Lord of the Dead. The attack had landed, but something about the feedback in his fingers felt... off.

Still in battle mode, Seong turned to the wall.

Footsteps echoed.

Step... step...

From a hole in the wall came a slow, deliberate sound.

The user who had been fighting in the room cried out.

“Aah! T-This is bad!”

“What is it?”

“Why?”

Seeing their comrade go pale, the others looked confused.

But the user didn’t even look at them. Grabbing his head, he muttered:

“N-No, that guy’s the Demon King, right? Then this is really bad.”

“Why???”

“That mask copies opponents and uses their exact powers!”

“...Shit!?”

“Which means...?!”

Everyone turned to the hole in the wall—

—and from it, a figure emerged.

Viewers watching the stream went wild.

????????

The Demon King is facing a mirror match?!

No way. No one’s skipping this fight.

How can anyone look away from a Demon King mirror battle?!

Excitement overflowed as the camera focused on the Mirror Mask—wearing the exact same outfit as Seong, but with a reflective mask for a face.

Seong let out a dry chuckle.

Part of it was because he found mirror matches entertaining.

But there was another reason.

It looks like all the masks here are tied to Sovereigns. Which means...

That Mirror Mask—no, this power of duplication—must belong to a Sovereign too.

As Seong was thinking that he’d love to obtain this ability when he acquires the Masked Lord...

A shadow formed right in front of his face—purple flames surged forward alongside black spikes of darkness aimed directly at him.

But Seong simply swung his arm.

Ash-colored death soldiers roared into existence and intercepted the flames and shadow.

And just from that—

“The power’s weaker.”

About 70% of the original, he estimated.

In that case—

“I guess I’ll just use death soldiers to fight.”

Might as well have some fun.

He stood calmly, curious how well this mask could copy him.

The Mirror Mask flinched slightly at Seong’s nonchalant defense.

But only for a moment.

It raised its hand—and this time, not two, but three powers converged.

Darkness, flames, and now imbued with a spirit—like it had given them life.

Darkness and flame merged into a living form.

A massive shadowy body, blazing with purple fire, moved ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) as if alive—animated by a death spirit.

Seong looked at it and scoffed.

Then he summoned a death soldier.

Tiny in comparison to the flame-shadow giant.

The 8-meter behemoth lunged with a blazing punch, as if mocking Seong’s smaller minion.

But the death soldier only smiled with gloomy, glowing eyes.

Kikikikikikikikiki———.

The eerie laugh echoed throughout the space.

And with it, the giant’s flaming fist flickered out—replaced by an inky darkness that spread outward.

It looked like darkness—but it wasn’t.

Strands writhed, like threads weaving into the surroundings—sharp, coiling, wrapping around the flame-shadow giant.

Upon closer inspection—

It wasn’t darkness.

It was the death soldier’s hair—jet-black strands that had multiplied, filling the entire area.

Viewers freaked out.

???????????

Th-That’s horrifying.

WTF WTF WTF WTF?

Why did this suddenly turn into a horror game??

Screw this, I’m sleeping with the lights on tonight.

And then—

On-screen, amidst the black tangle of hair, blood-red eyes glared back at the viewers.

Eyes that seemed ready to drip blood.

Oh god.

Even I... I can’t...

This is too scary...

We made eye contact...

Many viewers fled the stream in panic.

Even Baren and the other investigators—though they knew it was their ally—were deeply unnerved. How could the viewers not be?

Then the hair that had filled the room suddenly vanished along with the death soldier.

And left behind was the Mirror Mask—still dressed exactly like Seong.

But perhaps because it had tried to copy him...

Cracks had formed in its blood-red barrier, and it was barely holding on.

“Oh?”

It survived that?

Seong grinned, amused, and was about to press the attack again—

When he sensed something strange and paused.

As Seong stopped, the Mirror Mask, which had seemed ready to strike back, suddenly clutched its head in agony and writhed.

“Kiiiik—kiikiki—”

Something was wrong.

It grabbed its head, and cracks began to spread across the mirror embedded in the mask.

CRACK—!

Craaaack—!

And then, the cracks that began on the mask’s face extended throughout its entire body.

From within—darkness, fear, blood, spirits, and flame burst outward in waves.

Unable to handle the immense power, the puppet shattered like a vessel breaking apart, leaving behind the Mirror Mask.

Well, of course it did.

Even if it wasn’t the full power of Seong—

The amount of Sovereign power it had tried to replicate was overwhelming.

There was no way a mere puppet could contain it all.

Watching the result, Seong clicked his tongue.

“Tch.”

He’d actually been looking forward to the mirror match.

He thought it might lead to a real fight—but nope.

Disappointing.

Still, it was one problem solved.

Holy crap, that was epic.

*Never expected it to die like that.

That’s how strong the Demon King is? The copied power exploded from overload?

Is that even possible? It means he’s too strong to be cloned.

For real. The Demon King is a legend.

As the chat filled with awe and praise, Seong turned to the investigators.

“Ah! Thank you so much!”

“You saved us.”

“We owe you our lives.”

Two NPCs and one player.

With that, all the NPCs had been rescued.

The rest were players, so there was no need to track them down.

Seong felt relieved as he turned his head.

Baren seemed to realize it too and said,

“I think we’re ready to head down now.”

Baren spoke as if he were prepared.

Seong nodded, and the team quickly found the next groove and inserted a mask.

Now with more hands on deck, Seong and his vassals didn’t have to lift a finger to find it.

When the mask was inserted—

A new message appeared.

Curious about the next reward, Seong checked the system prompt.

[Unclaimed rewards remain.]

Only then did he realize that no reward had dropped for defeating the Blood Mask earlier.

And then—

[Conditions met. Slate activated.]

Suddenly, a stone slate rose from the floor.