Magic Academy's Genius Blinker Chapter 535: The Dark Mage King (4)

Ever since the reigning Dark Mage King ascended to the summit of dark mages, no challenger to his throne among them has managed to survive.

To put it another way, all dark mages bold enough to stand against him met total annihilation.

Fearful of his notorious fame, the mightiest mages either hid within the folds of rival groups or pledged unwavering allegiance to him. Consequently, over many decades, no fresh rivals appeared.

"It must not have been entertaining for you, Dark Mage King, having such a pathetic challenger."

Caw, caw!

Tormented crow shrieks resounded, swept off by the breeze.

The Dark Mage King stomped across the remains of Rangtal, once the leader of the Dark Mage Alliance, then lifted his gaze upward.

Footsteps crunching through the powdery earth drew nearer, unveiling a petite silhouette—a boy of modest stature.

"Hui-Ryeon."

"Ah, I am now officially the Dark Mage Cult Leader. Please use my proper title. Oh, wasn’t it once your title as well?"

"A title, is it? You sound like a human. Do dark mages need honorifics? If you desire respect, then prove your strength, subdue me, and impose your notions of courtesy upon dark mage society."

"Ha..."

The Dark Mage King exuded confidence born not of hubris but from overwhelming might, thick in the air.

Hui-Ryeon’s features briefly twisted in irritation, yet he quickly donned a calm grin and started talking.

"Subdue, you say... Still as barbaric as ever, I see. Do you honestly believe that the only path to kingship is by defeating you through brute force?"

"I know you’re full of schemes. But today is not your day. Leave."

The Dark Mage King shifted his eyes skyward. Storm clouds had silently amassed overhead, flickering with menacing lightning bolts—a harbinger of the Dark Knight’s imminent arrival.

"The Lightning Swordsman, Dark Knight... Yes, if he arrives, even I will find it troublesome. But, does it matter? Once a duel begins between you and me, no one else can interfere."

"...It sounds like you’re challenging me to a duel."

Hidden under his helmet, the Dark Mage King’s face defied reading, yet Hui-Ryeon sensed he could perceive it anyway.

He pictured the King gazing at him scornfully, deeming him ridiculously absurd.

And maybe that was true. Though a dark mage, Hui-Ryeon proved nearly helpless in fights, the feeblest of them all.

Yet against Hui-Ryeon’s expectations, the Dark Mage King viewed him not as a joke.

Quite the opposite—he esteemed the bravery of a powerless soul who still confronted the King.

He valued the cunning choice to strike when exhaustion followed endless clashes.

Thus, for these very traits, the Dark Mage King deemed Hui-Ryeon a formidable peer.

"...Very well. I cannot refuse a duel. However, the price of defeat is death."

"I understand," Hui-Ryeon answered with a bold smirk, pulling a dagger from within his coat.

Dark Mages seldom brandished weapons, preferring their unique powers or bodily strength instead.

Nevertheless, the Dark Mage King remained unmoved, allowing his foe ample moments to ready himself.

"Have you finished arming yourself?"

"Yes. Though I doubt a mere dagger like this can pierce your armor."

Hui-Ryeon’s biting quip mocked the King’s bulky armor, though he realized such taunts held no real weight.

In truth, Hui-Ryeon uttered them solely to mask his frailties and rationalize carrying a blade.

"Do you know why I built my fortress in a place like this?"

"No idea. Perhaps it just suits your vibe as the Dark Mage King."

Hui-Ryeon brushed off the importance of this enormous canyon, blanketed in a sinister crimson-black layer.

A barren wasteland forsaken by all life ages past, choked by thick black mana’s dominance.

Beneath its crust, nightmarish beasts feeding on dark magic swarmed endlessly, rendering it forbidden to humankind.

Indisputably among the deadliest spots, yet an ideal sanctuary for the spineless.

Therefore, Hui-Ryeon had long branded the Dark Mage King a coward.

A coward—one brimming with supreme might yet too afraid to unleash it.

Weak as his strength was here, his otherworldly counterpart’s victory over the Dark Mage King proved even that infinite force had boundaries.

This led Hui-Ryeon to mock the Dark Mage King, much like he scorned his other versions.

To Hui-Ryeon, his father Fawn Prevernal Moon’s scheme aimed to remake the entire world.

Still, such a grand vision demanded far beyond mere brute strength.

This conviction arose because he deemed himself, above all other Hui-Ryeon incarnations, the most fitting for his father’s grand scheme. Even with his feeble might, he took pride in outsmarting every other version of Hui-Ryeon.

Hui-Ryeon had noted that the Dark Mage King was clearly drained following his clash with the Earth Dragon and the Dark Mage Alliance’s leader.

Cornering the King to such an extent without deploying his own strength served as evidence, to him, that his strategy had rocked the world’s very core.

"You’re known to possess the ability to absorb all magical power."

The Dark Mage King stayed quiet.

A cunning smile spread over Hui-Ryeon’s features as he pressed on, "With such invincible power, I can only imagine how you must have flaunted it. How enviable indeed."

"I fail to see your intent."

"Intent? There’s none," Hui-Ryeon shot back with a derisive chuckle.

"I merely know the truth, that you no longer have that power, Abeline Starberg!"

Hui-Ryeon bellowed the Dark Mage King’s real name while thrusting his dagger toward him.

The famed mage of legend, Abeline Starberg, had shone as a prodigy of prodigies at Stella Academy, studying under the great Elthman Elwin himself.

Reaching Class 9 at a remarkably tender age, Abeline Starberg mirrored Elthman Elwin by forging myriad heroic deeds, etching his name among magic’s supreme icons. Still, he turned against the magical realm, slaying three Elder Council members, crippling the prior Full Moon Tower Master, and vanishing, only to meet a supposed grim fate.

But was that fate truly grim? Who decides what counts as grim?

Calling his defection from the magical world tragic reeks of narrow human bias.

"So, Abeline, tell me, how has life as a dark mage been? Was it enjoyable to live solely for power? Was the pursuit of strength alone satisfying?"

The motive behind legendary archmage Abeline Starberg’s betrayal of the magical world was straightforward: he craved a superior pinnacle of power.

Bound by human flesh, he spied no path to shatter his bodily constraints. Drawn to dark mages’ gifts, which tapped otherworldly forces for might beyond human bounds.

Yet ultimately, the Dark Mage King regretted his path.

Even as the mightiest Dark Mage alive, he glimpsed the ceiling of his prowess.

It seemed some celestial power imposed a cap on all creatures’ strength, as if proclaiming:

’Your limits end here.’

’Do not dare to go beyond.’

The Dark Mage King envisioned conquering the world alone and forging a realm of true equality for all. Yet his present power fell short.

Class 9 magic’s restrictions loomed large. Should three or more Class 9 mages band together against him, his vast strength wouldn’t prevail.

A vision of solo world domination remained out of reach.

Driven by rage, he started hunting down Class 9 mages one after another.

Five such mages had already perished by his hand.

Yet, as though the heavens aimed to preserve power’s equilibrium, each fallen Class 9 mage gave way to a new one emerging.

And that was merely the beginning.

The world seemed bent on never depleting its pool of Class 9 potentials. Youngsters fated for that elite tier kept appearing in droves.

Prince Jeremy of the Scalven Imperial Family.

Princess Hong Bi-Yeon of the Adolevit Royal Family.

Grand Duchess Eisel of the Morph Ducal Family.

A crop of prodigies bloomed everywhere, like mushrooms in a downpour.

Seizing the moment, the Dark Mage King sired his own offspring: Ma Yu-Seong.

This heir, carrying his father’s prodigious spark, showed phenomenal promise right from birth.

Yes, this was the exact talent Abeline had longed for.

Abeline held mage aptitude but lacked the dark essence.

Ma Yu-Seong, however, brimmed with dark talent.

Faced with this, the Dark Mage King made his choice.

If he couldn’t break this era’s limits personally, he’d guarantee his son would.

"Your great authority... it now resides in Ma Yu-Seong, doesn’t it? Am I correct?"

Precisely so.

The unbeatable might the Dark Mage King once wielded with pride had departed from him. This hidden truth eluded nearly everyone.

Yet Hui-Ryeon, having intimately observed Ma Yu-Seong’s birth, grasped it better than any soul.

"You are no longer the legendary Abeline Starberg. You have completely lost your magical power, and the invincible ability to nullify all attacks no longer exists. Now, you’re merely pretending to be the strongest with the scraps of power that remain."

"...So it seems."

In the presence of Hui-ryeon, who grasped every secret about him, the Dark Mage King couldn't conceal a single thing and simply nodded.

"And yet..."

Though Hui-ryeon might lack the complete details...

Right from the outset, the Dark Mage King never meant to keep anything under wraps.

"Why did you think I would hide such things?"

"...What?"

"For someone like you to know this much, it means I’ve never hidden the fact that I’ve grown weaker."

"Now you’re just bluffing..."

"Do you know why, Hui-ryeon?"

Hui-ryeon’s face contorted with fury as the Dark Mage King locked his intense stare on him and declared.

"Even after abandoning half my power and becoming weaker, there hasn’t been a single dark being stronger than me."

Confidence forged in raw power.

This overwhelming certainty was utterly alien to Hui-ryeon, who entered the world feeble and spent his days as the perpetual weakling—it crushed him for an instant.

"Stop spouting nonsense and get out of my way!"

His battered pride allowed no other option. Roaring in rage, he lunged at the insulter, slashing wildly with his puny dagger.

Petite though the dagger was, it brimmed with the force Hui-ryeon had gathered across the 18 years following his betrayal of the Dark Mage King.

Swish!

One deceptively effortless sweep—

The ebony fortress looming over the Wailing Cliffs—

A realm dubbed the nightmare of monsters, the bliss of dark entities, and the globe's utmost terror—

Got perfectly bisected.

...Along with every bit of space around it.