Episode 683

What a pity—

muttered the Archduke of Pride.

Unlike other lesser demons obsessed solely with slaughter and destruction, a demon of duke rank typically had sophisticated goals tied to dignity and intellect.

The Archduke was no exception.

Rather than simply killing all the magicians present, he desired to collect their souls—a true collector.

That was Archduke of Pride, Garisaima.

And right now, Lady Luck had handed Garisaima fortune after fortune.

How often would such a chance come, to freely subdue magicians with unrestrained might and force a contract on them?

Magicians were a sly lot; when contracting with a powerful demon, they would prepare all manner of traps and safeguards.

This kind of opportunity was rare indeed.

Especially, the young magician before him, contracted with the Thunder King, was extremely tempting.

‘A gem!’

Garisaima doubted there was another soul like that to add to his collection.

But perhaps recognizing that greed, the Thunder King was now burning with resolve to kill the magician rather than be defeated.

In that case, subduing and forcibly contracting the magician was impossible. The Archduke of Pride regretfully hardened his resolve.

No choice—Thunder King—I’ll pay you back for this later!

—He’s on the move again!

Suddenly, a huge magical force surged up behind the Archduke and began to swallow the surrounding space.

Lee Han wasn’t surprised, having seen the Frost Giant King alter the surrounding space before.

But something else alarmed Lee Han.

‘The property of this magic…?!’

A power with a property he’d never seen before was writhing around the Archduke.

—A demon duke uses his own unique property. Be careful! It will be different from other elements.

Surging around the Archduke was an unfamiliar property of mana—not a dark element or anything known.

Which meant Lee Han’s usual magician’s tool of reading his opponent’s strengths and weaknesses through knowledge was completely useless here.

—Do you know anything about its properties?

Sensing the ominous mana, Lee Han asked, and Perkuntra answered right away.

—You don’t need to know that!

—Pardon?

Before he finished, the Archduke began his attack.

Unlike earlier, there was now a murderous intent to finish off Perkuntra once and for all.

‘Mist…!’

The Archduke turned into a swirl of crimson mist, circling in on Lee Han. Everything caught in the area turned to dust and vanished.

“!”

It wasn’t weathering or corrosion—a strange and unknown property that sent chills down Lee Han’s spine.

But Perkuntra remained utterly confident.

Let me show you lightning.

Lightning Transformation!

Synchronized with Lee Han, Perkuntra transformed instantly into pure lightning.

Like a stream of lightning, he pierced through the area the Archduke had turned mist and corrupted.

And it didn’t stop there. Perkuntra moved again and again in succession, pressing the attack, steadily shrinking the Archduke’s domain every time the lightning struck and moved.

Thunder King—you’re enjoying this, aren’t you—!

If it bothers you, go borrow more power yourself!

Even crossing the dimensional gate unrestrained, the Archduke’s power was ultimately funneled through it.

Perkuntra, meanwhile, was directly synchronized with his contractor and could swell his power as much as the contractor could endure.

The Archduke had to admit the Thunder King was not an easy opponent.

He wasn’t sure how the contractor kept up…

Magician—you’re truly remarkable—

—But, Perkuntra…

Lee Han asked in confusion.

This lightning transformation spell was a type of transformation magic.

Turning into lightning to seize control—simple concept, but an absurdly difficult spell to execute.

—Is it really okay for me to use something like this?

—With all your mana, what kind of foolish question is that?

—No, not a mana question—when one uses magic beyond their level, doesn’t it put physical strain on the body?

Just as powerful enhancement magic strains the body, other magic does the same.

Even if he transformed and darted about as lightning, would his body be okay afterward?

—With so much mana, your body won’t collapse. It’ll hold together.

—Really? Not even any muscle aches or anything?

—That might happen…

—……

—Facing a demon duke, and all you get is some muscle pain? Count yourself lucky!

Perkuntra responded as if he’d been wronged.

‘…He has a point.’

Lee Han had to admit it made sense.

The Archduke of Pride drew his black-red sword and smiled belligerently.

Alright—alright—let’s keep going—Thunder King—!

The moment he finished speaking, the Archduke vanished.

His magic blanketed the surroundings like the pitch-black of a night sky. Within the mist, he moved freely, baring his fangs.

Perkuntra responded with a belligerent roar of thunder and transformed into lightning again. With each swing, his spears of lightning tore the mist and clashed against the Archduke’s blade.

In less than five seconds, the two clashed hundreds of times. The Archduke spoke excitedly.

Most demons, trapped here, would be mewling like canaries!

Are you going to keep changing into mist? That mist won’t beat my lightning!

Touching the Archduke’s domain brought immense damage, but Perkuntra, wielding his true name’s sacred lightning, withstood it.

If the mist’s power couldn’t penetrate, it was merely a loose net.

That remains to be seen—even if your contractor is cunning, he’ll collapse eventually—!

“That’s enough. Demon. Stay away from my junior! Unless you want to be trapped in Einrogard’s Deepest Level!”

How dare you threaten me like that—?!

‘They have a place like that?’

---

Once Perkuntra and the Archduke began their duel, the other magicians, instead of calmly figuring out what to do first…

…just sat and watched transfixed.

They should have been quickly isolating the space or preparing anti-demon grand magic to prevent possible catastrophe!

But it could not be helped.

Wizards were, at heart, seekers and explorers of mystery.

With a once-in-a-lifetime beautiful duel playing out before their eyes, how could they leave their seats?

‘Incredible!’

Every time Perkuntra swung his thunderbolt, the wizards let out low sighs of awe.

They could sense that this was something on a completely different tier from ordinary lightning.

Lightning element, refined and strengthened through processes so profound and arcane as to be unimaginable!

If they could study and learn even a hundredth of that lightning, the magicians here would gladly give an arm or a leg.

Meanwhile, Yukveltire was focused on something different.

‘How is he holding up?’

Summoning and contracting with a great spirit wasn’t all that amazing.

It was mostly a matter of luck and talent—there were successful magicians, albeit not many.

But to survive while a grand spirit wielded its power without reserve—now that was astonishing.

Yukveltire suddenly recalled a rumor she’d heard about a first-year Wardanaz House student.

According to gossip, he was top of his class, attending multiple magic schools at once, and even assisting upperclassmen spells.

Supposedly an eccentric who hung around with Ellendil and was close to students in the dark magic school, meaning he probably had narrow, unusual social circles.

‘Could it be…?’

Yukveltire wondered, watching the junior who was so friendly with Direte.

“Yukveltire, help me. I’m going to sever the link to the other dimension.”

“Is that junior from House Wardanaz by chance?”

“What? Yeah. But isn’t now the wrong time for that?”

“Is it true he’s studying dark magic, alchemy, and enchantment all at once?”

“Are you going to help or not?”

Direte looked at his friend with a gaze full of irritation.

His own project had become a living hell, and she was on about irrelevant nonsense.

“I’ll help, all right. What’s the plan to keep him in check?”

“First, cut the dimensional gate.”

Otherworldly beings were typically heavily restricted upon descending to this world.

They could use only a portion of their power from their native plane.

The only reason the Archduke was rampaging now was the open dimensional gate feeding him power from his own world.

Cut the gate, and even the Archduke would have to hesitate.

“There are several challenges. With a demon that strong, the instant we start interfering with the gate, he’ll notice. Then he’ll target us, not the spirit.”

The princess explained the situation coldly. Direte nodded as if he’d known this all along.

“We’ll have to try interfering without being discovered.”

“Is that possible?”

“Hard, but not impossible. We have to try.”

At Direte’s words, Yukveltire realized her friend had been researching a new magic she didn’t know about.

She gave a faintly satisfied expression.

“Impressive, Direte. I was worried you spent all your time coddling juniors, but you were also focused on your own magic.”

“Shut up. Like you didn’t trigger this dimensional accident failing to make a proper artifact.”

“Not my fault—other wizards’ negligence. I admit, trusting idiotic magicians was my mistake.”

“Noticing it is also a skill. My junior noticed from far away, you know? If you’d listened, we wouldn’t be in this mess. So stubborn.”

“……”

Stung, the princess fell silent.

She couldn’t refute the fact that a first-year had noticed while she hadn’t.

“I got careless.”

“‘Careless,’ my foot. Only lazy students say that before a test—or an assignment.”

“Don’t compare me to such fools, Direte.”

“I will if I want.”

“I’m not like—”

“It’s ready. Come on, help me.”

Geometric runes appeared over Direte’s arms and face.

Yukveltire realized he was channeling the power of a contracted demon.

“When did you make a pact?”

“I got permission from the principal and borrowed one from the ones imprisoned in Einrogard.”

The Archduke, hyper-sensitive to a wizard’s magic, would be less alert to demon power.

Direte planned to use demonic energy to touch and seal the dimensional gate.

“You can hide us, right? If not, you’re worse than Koholti.”

“……”

At the insult, an eyebrow twitched, but Yukveltire grabbed Direte’s hand and began to chant.

The demonic energy, distinct from ordinary mana, slithered through space like a serpent and began to entangle the dimensional gate.

Once.

Twice.

Three times…

Since he was borrowing demon power, Direte broke into a cold sweat. Even after paying a fair price according to the contract, the backlash was severe.

‘…How on earth can that kid fight like that…?’

Looking ahead, his junior was LITERALLY transformed into lightning, tearing the Archduke’s mist to shreds.

The other magicians only watched, entranced. Direte wanted to curse at them all.

“Idiots.”

“Agreed.”

Yukveltire concurred.

Doing nothing but spectate instead of taking action.

No matter how mythic the battle…

“Hey! Concentrate!”

“…”

Yukveltire was startled, realizing she’d made a careless mistake, getting distracted by the fight before her.

‘I… made such a trivial mistake…?’

“You’re down to Koholti’s level now.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Yeah, right. Now focus. …Okay! That’s enough, demon! Stay away from my junior! Unless you want to be trapped in Einrogard’s Deepest Level!”

At Direte’s shout, the entranced wizards finally snapped out of it.

“T-the dimensional gate has been sealed!”

“Why didn’t we think of that…?!”

‘I want to kill them, seriously.’

“Wait, isn’t that Direte?!”

Direte hurriedly pulled down his hat and shouted,

“You’re mistaken.”

“Uh…”

“Just attack the demon already!”