50. Noble Soul (14)
Absolute Invincible Cheolribeon.
He was a truly peculiar dark mage. Probably the most unique among the countless characters that existed in Aether World Online.
At one point, players found that they couldn’t neatly categorize characters’ abilities by mere traits, class, or risk level alone, so they jokingly began breaking down “combat power” into numbers among themselves.
Combat power included not only attack and defense, but also detailed factors like speed and utility, compiled according to the players’ subjective opinions, but…
in the end, the most important parts were “magic attack power” and “defense power.”
For a 9-Class mage, the average combat power came out to around 100. Eltman Eltwin had an attack power of 120 and a defense power of 80, while Kkotseorin had an attack power of 90 and a defense power of 130.
Most players thought those combat power calculations lined up reasonably well, though of course there were many who opposed them.
After all, they were subjective opinions.
However, there was one combat power rating that made everyone nod in agreement.
[Cheolribeon]
9-Risk Dark Mage
Magic Attack Power: 10
Magic Defense Power: 300
That was Cheolribeon.
Judging by the numbers alone, one could call it grotesquely lopsided. His attack power was only around the level of a novice mage, yet his defense power was among the strongest on this land.
Put simply, if you only considered “pure offensive power,” it meant that at least two or three 9-Class mages would have to gather together just to break through Cheolribeon’s defenses.
Wasn’t that broken?
Not exactly.
Trait [Phenomenon Control].
The ability to control and seize the opponent’s magic and bend it into one’s own.
Skill [Blessing of Dusk Soil February].
The ability to perfectly defend against and counter all forms of attack.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that the two abilities Cheolribeon possessed depended less on himself than on the opponent.
In other words, what did that mean?
It meant that even if Cheolribeon decided he wanted to kill someone, if that opponent did nothing but defend instead of resist, the match would never be decided.
But what if,
Cheolribeon were to lose all of his defensive abilities?
If, in the extreme example that had been given, the situation of facing two 9-Class mages at once actually came to pass, and cracks had already formed in his “absolute defense”?
“My, my~ So even Absolute Invincible Cheolribeon gets injured in the end once all his barriers are peeled away?”
“…Kuh!”
At Soya’s mocking tone, Cheolribeon wiped the blood streaming from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve.
“The Spirit-Slayer, was it…”
Unlike when he had faced Aryumun and Kkotseorin earlier, Cheolribeon’s eyes sank into a savage darkness.
But whether that happened or not, Soya merely smiled with her eyes.
Because the Cheolribeon before her now… was nothing more than a tiger with broken fangs.
‘That brat was telling the truth.’
The weakness of Cheolribeon that Baek Yuseol had told her about was absurdly simple.
He had said it wasn’t about exploiting some vulnerability, trauma, or vital point, but that his very “personality” itself was his weakness.
‘No matter who he faces, he fights with all his might and with complete sincerity…’
If someone with power 100 wants to beat someone with power 10, then even using only 15 would be more than enough.
But Cheolribeon couldn’t do that.
Because “absolute defense” wasn’t quite as convenient a function as it sounded.
Even when facing an enemy that posed only a threat level of 1, he fought with the full force of all 300.
And what if the opponent happened to be two 9-Class mages?
“How does it feel, having that barrier you were so proud of broken? Hm?”
As Soya spoke with a sweet smile, Cheolribeon flexed his fist without her noticing and checked his mana.
‘I see… so she was waiting for a chance.’
Until now, he had been pursuing the Spirit-Slayer in order to kill her, but he had never once considered the possibility that his prey might attack him instead.
After all, any dark mage should know that he possessed an absolutely invincible body.
But what if she had predicted that Aryumun and Kkotseorin would approach him?
He had no idea how she had obtained the information… but turning around and attacking him in return was not an impossible scenario.
In fact, his mana was nearly bottomed out right now, to the point where not only could he not invoke Dusk Soil February’s blessing, he could barely even activate his own ability more than a few times.
‘Her information was fast, and her judgment was good.’
Strange.
Soya, the Spirit-Slayer.
At a glance she might appear to be a formidable dark mage… but according to Cheolribeon’s insight, she did not possess exceptional intelligence.
Planning? Strategy?
There was no way a foolish woman who would throw even her life away for the pleasure right in front of her could pull that off.
“Who… is behind you?”
When Cheolribeon asked in a low, sunken voice, Soya’s brows twitched.
For an instant, she had been overwhelmed by that pressure.
“Behind me? Hah, as if I’d have something like that. I move solely according to my own will!”
“Is that so…”
“You don’t even have any strength left and you’re still bluffing!”
Snap!
Soya threw both arms high into the air.
A black magic circle tinged with red rippled unpleasantly.
It was utterly different from the magic used by ordinary mages.
The magic of a persona created by dark mages through contracts with the “Reverse Side World,” fused with the magic of witches into an original ability.
[Phenomenon Interference]
Soya slowly lifted the corners of her mouth.
‘No problem. I can do this.’
This was the power that, in a distant past she couldn’t even remember, had toppled even the spirit Iphanel.
Granted, at the time, Iphanel had been on the verge of ascending from divine beast to spirit and had therefore been completely defenseless…
but a victory was still a victory, wasn’t it?
‘I can corrupt even a spirit!’
Creak! Craaack!
Soya’s dark mana spread in all directions and slowly began to erode everything.
Rock, trees, grass, flowers, butterflies, pigeons, cicadas, nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide.
There were countless things around her, both visible and invisible, and people of this world had chosen to collectively call them all “all things.”
Her power was the ability to interfere with all things that existed in this world.
She interfered with living humans and turned them into puppets, interfered with corpses and turned them into clones, interfered with spirits and even stole away their hearts.
‘I’m the only one in this world who fused the magic of the Reverse Side World with the magic of witches!’
Even if she wanted to lose, she couldn’t.
The price of using magic was that she had to pay with an overwhelming amount of lifespan, but if she could only dispose of Cheolribeon, then fully absorbing the spirit’s heart should also become possible.
She might even obtain an eternal, deathless body with no limit on lifespan.
‘Once the restriction of lifespan disappears,
I’ll be invincible!’
Boom, ku-kukung!!
The invisible air clenched into fists and bound Cheolribeon in place, while carbon rose from the ground and seized his ankles with a hardness like diamond, preventing him from moving.
Whoooosh!!
The wind was driven artificially.
Clouds in the sky slowly began to gather over Cheolribeon’s head.
She could not control the climate itself, but—
Crackle, kwa-gwa-gwang!!!
—striking down lightning was something absurdly easy for her.
Kkadeudeudeuk—!
The earth twisted like a vortex, dragging Cheolribeon down toward the underground.
To interfere with all things meant controlling the elements themselves.
In other words…
“Isn’t this no different from the power of a god? Don’t you think so, Baek Yuseol!”
Soya cried out at the top of her lungs as she drew up more dark mana.
‘If only I didn’t have the restriction of lifespan,
I…!’
I could become truly invincible.
Stop.
…Until suddenly, she thought that way no longer.
“Uh…?”
The swirling air, the scattering leaves, the twisting ground, the writhing clouds.
Everything stopped.
‘W-what is… this?’
Had time stopped?
No.
That was a misconception.
Time had not stopped.
All the countless things she had interfered with…
had slipped free from her control and stopped under someone else’s will.
‘What…?’
Her pupils trembled violently.
She took one step back, and the sound of the grass rustling rang out clearly.
If time had really stopped, then even sound would not have been possible.
Which meant—
‘This is like time stopping…
Phenomenon Interference…?’
Phenomenon Interference.
And a superior ability, far beyond even her own magnificent power that could dominate all things—
[Phenomenon Control]
Paseuseuk!
The vortex of earth that had risen as if it would reach the sky subsided, and the violent writhing of the air calmed.
And there stood Cheolribeon.
With a thoroughly tired expression, he reached out and touched a leaf frozen in midair.
“Did you know?”
“Wha—”
With a single light tap of his finger against the leaf, the leaf split in half.
“Wha…”
What was he trying to do?
The moment the question arose—
that very instant—
“U-ugh… Aaaargh?!!”
A suffocating pain seized Soya, and she clutched at her throat as she collapsed to her knees.
Her throat? Was the source of the pain her throat?
Her wrist? Waist? Thigh? Head?
She could not understand it.
She was clearly in agony, but—
it was impossible to recognize exactly where the pain was located.
“To interfere with all things, you inevitably need to contain your own soul within them….”
Cheolribeon’s voice was gentle, almost to the point of sounding bored.
“That’s the limit of ‘interference.’”
What the hell was this bastard even saying?
She tried to speak, but she couldn’t.
The moment Cheolribeon lifted his foot and crushed a pebble beneath it, her entire body was swallowed by agony as though her heart had burst.
“Kuhuk…!”
Drooling uncontrollably, Soya collapsed and twisted across the ground.
“Keh, kuheok…!”
She had to release Phenomenon Interference. She had to retrieve all her dark mana.
But—
she could not.
“…Sorry, but I’ve already taken control of all of it. You’d be better off abandoning any foolish thoughts.”
Abilities that interfered with something else were rare.
But if mages of that type ever met one another…
they had to judge wisely.
Because if the other party’s ability was the higher-tier version, then their own ability would be completely sealed off.
Of course, to put it simply, it would not be entirely accurate to say that Cheolribeon’s ability was a perfect superior version of Soya’s.
It was merely a difference in experience.
At first, he had only been able to control a single leaf.
But since that trashy little ability was all he had, Cheolribeon had trained his Phenomenon Control to the extreme.
In order to survive, he had trained and trained again.
And as a result, Cheolribeon had honed Phenomenon Control to its absolute limit.
Could Soya really overcome a Cheolribeon like that?
Absolutely impossible.
It was purely the difference in experience and skill.
Even after seizing the upper hand, Soya was having every ability she possessed trampled beneath that simple gap.
Crunch!
He broke a tree, scattered the air, and crushed pebbles beneath his feet, and every time he did, Soya convulsed, her entire body shaking.
She couldn’t even faint.
He knew exactly when a dark mage died, and when one lost consciousness.
A dark mage, with a body that had surpassed humanity and become superhuman, would never collapse so easily from pain like this.
Because he knew that, he took his time grinding away at Soya’s soul.
“To kill a spirit… That was truly a vile thing to do. Wasn’t it?”
You’re a dark mage.
So why are you taking the spirit’s side?
Soya wanted to ask that, but her mouth would not open.
The sensation that was supposedly her mouth had synced with the pebble beneath Cheolribeon’s foot and was shattering to pieces.
“Spirits are beings that someone like you should never lay a hand on. I’ve been chasing you for a very long time. And at last, as if by fate, I met you today.”
At last Cheolribeon came to stand in front of Soya, looking down at her with the disgusted eyes of someone staring at an insect.
“Twisted, isn’t it? I didn’t know either. That our abilities would overlap like this…”
Both Soya and Cheolribeon
had thoroughly hidden the true name of the power they possessed.
“But this…
it feels deeply wrong. I don’t like it. Even though I’ve caught you, I can’t shake the feeling that someone who knows both you and me very well deliberately created this situation.”
Soya, too, was a woman who knew how to look after her own life.
That was precisely why she had survived all these years as a fugitive.
And yet such a woman had abruptly attacked him?
Someone had clearly clouded her reason.
By seducing her with sweet words.
“…Don’t you think so? You there, hiding and watching this whole time.”
Cheolribeon lifted his head and looked toward a certain point.
Ordinary mana detection could not sense it at all, but thanks to Phenomenon Control, he knew for certain.
“I tried to take control of this entire area. But there was one single part I couldn’t control—the space where you were standing.”
Even for Cheolribeon, it was the first time he had experienced something so incomprehensible.
At those words, from a great distance away, a certain boy revealed himself.
The Stella Academy uniform.
Even after having lived apart from the worldly realm for so many years, that much was easy to recognize.
And his identity as well.
“Baek Yuseol. I’d heard the rumors, but…”
Looking at the boy’s darkly sunken face, Cheolribeon smiled for the first time in a while.
“You’re even more dangerous than I expected.”
Read only on MugenCodex
