Chapter 13

The Returning Archmage Is a Max-Level Player Chapter 13

______________

Kim Dohyun and Jung Taeho’s party.

As the time they spent walking together increased, their wariness eased considerably, and conversation began to flow naturally.

Of course, most of it concerned topics that had recently become popular among the Awakened.

“Lately, you can’t even have a conversation on BabelNet without talking about the anonymous number one.”

“Isn’t it really amazing? Taking first place in both the tutorial and the 1st Floor.”

“I really hope they’re Korean. Foreign communities have been seriously looking down on Korea for a long time.”

There were moments when they openly showered him with praise, making his face itch with embarrassment.

But it was not entirely awkward.

Because meaningful information was mixed in as well.

‘Jung Taeho’s party is rank F+.’

To be perfectly honest, they were weaker than he had expected.

At this level, even dealing with the monsters in the public hunting ground would be difficult.

Thinking about it, that was only natural.

If they had sufficient skill, there would have been no need to form a party in the first place.

‘There really is a gap between the information I found online and reality.’

In fact, the F+ rank Awakened recorded in videos posted on BabelNet had been fighting monsters alone.

He could guess the reason.

‘The ones uploaded online are probably top-tier rookies.’

Most of the people uploading videos or writing posts were likely doing so for publicity or to show off.

It meant ordinary Awakened were not the standard.

‘In the end, there’s a high chance my current ability is overwhelming even among rookies.’

It was only natural, considering he had been called an Archmage, but he had no intention of becoming conceited.

‘Carelessness inevitably leads to defeat.’

Always remain vigilant, predict, and prepare.

That was the reason he had survived for fifty years and the foundation upon which he had come to be called an Archmage.

Among the Awakened were not only Returnees but also beings called Reincarnators, and it was said that as one climbed Babel, one could even encounter other races.

That meant there was no telling what variables might appear in the future.

And so.

‘Stay calm and cautious like now. But move forward with certainty.’

Even as he organized his future course of action based on the new information he had obtained, Jung Taeho’s party continued talking.

“The villain problem is serious too. They’ve been increasing a lot lately.”

“They say the Association is responding, but honestly, even I can see they’re short-handed.”

“Still, if the anonymous number one really is Korean, wouldn’t villains from neighboring countries hiding in Korea start running away too?”

Kim Dohyun’s eyes narrowed.

‘Looks like public security in Korea isn’t particularly good right now.’

He was letting the unnecessary parts of the conversation pass while filtering and organizing only the information he needed when.

Whiiiing-

Kim Dohyun sensed something through the Search spell and spoke quietly.

“Quiet.”

A single short word.

But the words carried mana, reaching Jung Taeho’s party instantly and silencing their chatter.

Immediately afterward.

Kim Dohyun’s expression hardened as he turned and stared back down the path they had come from.

“We’ve got pursuers following us.”

“...Couldn’t they be someone other than the villains’ companions?”

Kim Dohyun corrected Seo Minjun’s hopeful suggestion.

“One hundred percent. They’re from the same group.”

It was not intuition.

The pursuers were openly radiating killing intent.

‘Seven.’

There were quite a few.

Moreover, the man at the very front, who appeared to be the leader, moved with considerable agility.

‘Martial type. Among them, probably a rogue-type.’

Just in case, he checked the others too, but aside from the leader, none stood out.

They all moved at an ordinary level.

Based on the information he had sensed, he quickly finished calculating in his head.

Since they were not difficult opponents, he reached the conclusion quickly.

‘I win.’

It was a conclusion derived from fifty years of battlefield experience. Along with the Archmage’s insight and calculations that bordered on foresight.

He could sufficiently subdue the villain group.

Of course, he had no intention of engaging in a frontal clash.

A mage was one who prepared and made contingencies.

‘I’ll subdue them efficiently and with certainty.’

Kim Dohyun calmly worked through his plan and spoke.

“In about five minutes. The villains will arrive. I’d like everyone to move exactly as I tell you.”

_____________

Rustle-!

Jung Taeho stepped forward with a hardened expression as a group of seven villains emerged from the brush.

“I’m warning you. If you come any closer, we won’t just stand by.”

Behind Jung Taeho, who had raised his sword and shield, Seo Minjun and Han Sora were also preparing for battle.

Kang Cheolmin’s expression became strange when he saw them.

“Unexpected.”

He was confident in pursuit and had expected to catch up quickly once he moved personally.

But this was not the scene he had imagined.

He had expected them to be fleeing with their tails between their legs, yet they were standing their ground confidently.

“They don’t have the skill to justify that confidence.”

Kang Cheolmin glanced around.

They might have set a trap.

But he could see nothing.

Which meant.

“They’re idiots who don’t know their place.”

Just as Kang Cheolmin was about to step forward with cold eyes.

Crackle-!

A sensation of something being detected.

Feeling it, Kang Cheolmin’s expression hardened and he urgently shouted.

“Dodge!”

It was an instinctive action, but it was the best possible judgment.

Kaboom-!

With a flash, the spot where Kang Cheolmin had been standing turned into a field of electrical current.

A magic circle prepared in advance had activated.

Indeed, three villains who had failed to react to his shout were wrapped in electricity and collapsing to the ground.

Considering its power and speed.

Magic. And it seemed to have been cast by a fairly high-level mage.

“So there was a little rat hiding.”

Kang Cheolmin shifted his gaze.

From the place where mana was surging, a man, Kim Dohyun, appeared.

At that moment.

Kang Cheolmin’s eyes narrowed.

“So that mage is the source of your confidence.”

His instincts were warning him.

The mage before him was different from the trash he had taken down earlier.

Kang Cheolmin lightly turned his gaze toward the three subordinates remaining behind him, including Park Dogyeom, and spoke briefly.

“I’ll handle that mage. Take care of the rest of the trash yourselves.”

“Yes! Understood!”

Park Dogyeom hurriedly bowed and began moving toward Jung Taeho’s party together with the other two villains.

The structure of the fight was set.

Three against three, and one against one.

Kang Cheolmin’s gaze fixed on Kim Dohyun.

“You seem fairly skilled.”

Kang Cheolmin drew a dagger and lowered his stance, signaling swift movement.

“Unfortunately, you and I are a bad matchup.”

Martial type. Among them, the kind classified as an assassin.

One could call them the representative natural enemy of mages.

And Kang Cheolmin was not an ordinary assassin either.

“The last mage I handled on a commission was rank D+.”

A rank high enough to officially be called a mage.

In fact, that mage had been one of the more skilled among the 3rd Circle.

But in the end, he had died beneath Kang Cheolmin’s dagger.

“Mages like you can’t be my opponents.”

At Kang Cheolmin’s declarative words, Kim Dohyun snorted.

“Your reaction speed is slower than I expected. This fight is going to be easier than I predicted.”

“An easy fight? I wonder how long you’ll be able to keep bluffing.”

Kang Cheolmin snorted derisively, reset his stance, and charged forward.

It seemed as though he would close the distance in an instant and reach Kim Dohyun.

But things did not go as expected.

Hissss-

‘Freeze!?’

Since it was a basic spell used by mages, Kang Cheolmin knew it as well.

At best, it merely created a patch of ice roughly the size of a foot.

Indeed, it had no offensive power at all, but to Kang Cheolmin right now, it was extremely annoying.

His foot slipped on the ice that had instantly covered the ground where he stepped.

At the moment his balance wavered.

Crackle-!!

An Ice Arrow shot toward him.

Kang Cheolmin hurriedly twisted his body to change direction, his eyes gleaming as he charged again, but Kim Dohyun did not remain still either.

Hissss-

Freeze spread once again where he was about to step, and Ice Arrows shot out in succession.

A brief sound of admiration escaped Kang Cheolmin’s lips at the continuing attacks.

“You block movement with Freeze, prevent approach with Ice Arrow, and attack at the same time. A good idea.”

Kang Cheolmin smiled as he adjusted his dagger.

“But you picked the wrong opponent.”

With a relaxed smile, Kang Cheolmin flowed mana into his dagger.

‘Dagger of the Fugitive.’

What he held was not a simple weapon.

A magic item. Among them, one enchanted with Blink.

It possessed the rare ability to teleport within a distance of five meters.

‘Blink.’

Kang Cheolmin’s figure, which had been charging fiercely, scattered.

And.

Kang Cheolmin appeared behind Kim Dohyun, his dagger flashing.

“It was a decent way to fight. You were just a bad matchup.”

Kang Cheolmin spoke quietly, certain of victory.

Shrrr-!

Beneath the foot where he landed.

Freeze had been laid there as well.

Because he had put strength into his legs in order to swing the blade, he could not maintain his balance.

His foot slipped across the frozen ground.

Naturally, the trajectory of the arm swinging the dagger was thrown off, and the blade cut only empty air.

His attack timing had completely missed.

The price was harsh.

Whoosh-!

As though it had been waiting, an Ice Arrow flew toward him, and Kang Cheolmin hurriedly moved his feet and opened the distance.

“You read it?”

Kang Cheolmin’s eyes filled with confusion.

‘How?’

He could not understand it.

Questions continued to arise, but there was one thing he could say with certainty.

It was not luck.

Kim Dohyun had accurately predicted Blink’s landing point.

“It was too obvious.”

Kim Dohyun’s calm eyes curved like crescents.

By nature, an assassin was a profession where life and death were decided in an instant.

The basic rule was not to charge straight in carelessly.

Yet he had charged from the front.

It was only natural to infer that he had a hidden move, and Kim Dohyun had not missed the flow of mana coming from the dagger.

“I told you this would be an easy fight.”

At Kim Dohyun’s blatant taunt, Kang Cheolmin ground his teeth.

Gritting his teeth, Kang Cheolmin reset his stance and moved again.

It was different.

He did not charge in stupidly like before.

He circled around, dispersing Kim Dohyun’s attention.

‘He’s strong.’

The mage before him was different from those he had fought until now.

He needed to hunt carefully.

Still, it was not as though he had no method.

He still held the advantage in compatibility, and he had the experience and technique to support it.

‘Casting.’

He would exploit the fact that magic took time to cast, constantly moving and changing direction until an opening appeared.

It was a fundamental weakness and limitation of mages, so no matter how skilled Kim Dohyun was, Kang Cheolmin thought he would not be able to overcome it.

‘Why...!?’

No matter where he moved, the magic was one step ahead.

Whenever he tried to break in, Freeze was already spread there.

And that was not all.

Ice Arrows also flew toward him as though they had been waiting, constraining his movements.

It felt as though he were being toyed with in the palm of someone’s hand.

On top of that, the areas covered by Freeze were gradually increasing.

The places he could move to were decreasing.

The situation was becoming more and more unfavorable.

‘I can’t drag this out.’

Even if he had to take a risk, he needed to decide the fight in a single move.

His trump card, Blink, had been exposed, but he had not shown everything.

‘In the end, all he saw was one movement.’

The Blink enchanted into the Dagger of the Fugitive could also be used consecutively.

It meant he could leap multiple times in succession.

No matter how skilled Kim Dohyun was, he would not be able to predict movement like that.

‘I’ll end it in one go.’

Having decided, Kang Cheolmin charged.

Once again, Ice Arrows flew toward him and restricted his movement, and Kang Cheolmin used Blink as though he had been waiting for it.

Whoosh-!

As expected, ice had been spread beneath his feet again.

‘Got you.’

Freeze and Ice Arrow.

Two spells had been cast.

No, even if Kim Dohyun had prepared one more, it did not matter.

If Kang Cheolmin immediately leaped again into his blind spot, Kim Dohyun would not be able to react.

‘Blink.’

Kang Cheolmin appeared behind him and raised his dagger.

“It’s over.”

Kim Dohyun would no longer be able to respond.

He had been certain of that.

Tap-

One step.

Just one step.

Kim Dohyun stepped aside, and Kang Cheolmin’s dagger cut through empty air.

‘How can this be...?’

His movement had been read yet again.

It was bewildering, but it was not over.

Unlike before, no magic came flying at him.

That meant there was still an opportunity.

The distance was indeed close.

Exactly one step. If he took only that step, he could reach him.

It was the moment Kang Cheolmin tried to put strength into his legs.

“Freeze.”

A calm voice rang out.

Fwoooosh-

White snow crystals scattered through the air.

At the same time.

Kang Cheolmin’s legs froze.

No, that was not all.

The blades of grass around them began turning white.

Sap in the tree branches crystallized and shattered.

The dew gathered on the ground froze, spreading across the earth.

The environment itself was changing.

Kang Cheolmin’s face filled with shock.

“How...?”

Two Blinks.

The fact that Kim Dohyun had read both of them was shocking enough.

But more shocking than anything else was something else.

Wooooong-!

With a heavy sound, the complex patterns engraved into the ground began to shine.

A hexagram-shaped magic circle revealed itself beneath Kang Cheolmin’s feet.

And the man standing at its center.

Kang Cheolmin could not help but be horrified.

“When the hell...?”

When had he constructed the magic circle?

No, more importantly. How had he guided Kang Cheolmin to this exact location?

Questions followed one after another, but the answer that came was utterly absurd.

“From the beginning.”

Everything had been the result of meticulous calculation.

The locations where the Ice Arrows struck. The places where Freeze had been laid.

Every attack and defense had been positioned exactly as Kim Dohyun intended.

As if to prove it.

A cold arc formed at the corner of Kim Dohyun’s lips.

“The place you were going to end up was decided from the start.”