The airship carrying Baek Yu-Seol quickly arrived in the skies above Brightly.

The crew had prepared a parachute to ensure his safe descent, but naturally, a mage-warrior of Honorary Mage status had no need for such things.

"You’re really just going to jump...?"

A flight attendant asked nervously, but Baek Yu-Seol only nodded calmly. He had something else on his mind.

’The port is on fire.’

This meant the dark mages’ assault was already over. Even if Baek Yu-Seol dealt with the dark mages and secured the area for the airship to land, the passengers might still face restrictions on their movement.

’Not that it has anything to do with me.’

Clunk!

The lower hatch of the airship opened, letting in a fierce gust of wind.

While the upper levels of the ship were protected by magical coatings to shield passengers from strong winds, the lower levels lacked such protections.

"Uh, at least take this..."

The crew, visibly uneasy, kept trying to offer Baek Yu-Seol something for his descent, but he casually ignored them and leapt out.

Whoosh!

"Oh my!"

As the flight attendant let out a brief gasp of amazement, Baek Yu-Seol fell rapidly toward the ground, thinking to himself.

’But how should I land?’

He had jumped without a parachute, wanting to appear cool, but he didn’t exactly have a plan for the landing.

Although he trusted his physical abilities, unlike other mages, he lacked the power to float or hover in mid-air.

’I guess I’ll just use Flash and figure it out...’

As he contemplated stylish ways to land, he suddenly remembered [Golden Solstice Moon’s Essence].

It was one of the abilities he’d obtained thanks to Florin, and it offered incredible synergy with his skills.

Though he hadn’t yet used it in combat because it was still difficult to control, this seemed like the perfect moment to test it.

As his vision adjusted, the shapes of the dark mages became visible below, one after another.

Among them, five emitted auras that clearly marked them as risk level 7.

Contrary to what the flight attendant had said about there being only four, it seemed there were significantly more high-level dark mages present.

It made no sense for so many risk level 7 dark mages to gather in such a rural place, but there was no time to dwell on that.

’Target locked.’

Drawing his sword and aiming it downward, Baek Yu-Seol activated his skill.

[Unbreakable Body]

This ability temporarily reinforced his body to the strength of steel, though it had the drawback of immobilizing him. Normally, this would prevent him from combining it with Flash, but while falling, it was the perfect opportunity to use it effectively.

’Fire!’

With a smile that seemed to suggest he was enjoying himself, Baek Yu-Seol aimed his sword downward. In an instant, he activated Flash, propelling himself with incredible speed like a bullet in the same direction.

Bang!

As Baek Yu-Seol shot downward like a projectile, one of the risk level 7 dark mages below finally noticed him. He too late to react and shouted in panic.

"What the hell?!"

But that was the last sound the dark mage ever made.

Crash!!!

Baek Yu-Seol’s sword cleaved the risk level 7 dark mage cleanly in half with a single strike.

"What’s going on?!"

"S-something just fell from the sky...!"

Hearing the commotion, one of the leading risk level 7 dark mages shouted, and the other dark mages nearby responded in trembling voices.

Seeing one of their own - a risk level 7 - killed in an instant was enough to instill fear, even in beings supposedly devoid of emotion like dark mages.

As the thick cloud of dust cleared, Baek Yu-Seol stepped forward, and all the dark mages’ gazes locked onto him.

"There are more of you gathered here than I expected."

Casually tapping his shoulder with the hilt of his sword, Baek Yu-Seol glanced around the port and noticed something odd.

’What the hell?’

There were clear signs of a fierce battle, but no magical warriors could be seen.

If they had been wiped out, there should at least be bodies left behind, but there were none.

Even stranger, there were barely any traces of magic, suggesting the magical forces hadn’t arrived yet.

"...What’s this? Who the hell were you fighting?"

Taking a closer look at the dark mages, Baek Yu-Seol noticed the scars on their bodies. They were deep and irregular, as if caused by claws or bites, injuries no human could have inflicted.

"Wait, don’t tell me... you were fighting each other?"

Dumbfounded by the absurdity of the situation, Baek Yu-Seol asked in disbelief.

"Ha! Does a mere human intend to meddle in a dark mages’ war? Get lost!" 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"No, but how does it make sense to wage war in a human city?"

"When dark mages begin a battle, the area becomes our warzone! Lesser beings like humans must simply accept it!"

"What a ridiculous bastard."

It wasn’t just talk... Baek Yu-Seol could tell that these dark mages genuinely believed what they were saying, and it made his head throb.

How was he supposed to deal with these beings whose very way of thinking was so warped?

’But still... they were fighting each other?’

It was rare for risk level 7 dark mages to engage in a power struggle to the extent of invading human territory.

One-on-one skirmishes were common enough, but for a large-scale battle like this to break out, it suggested that something significant was wrong at higher levels of their hierarchy.

For example:

"The injury of the Dark Mage King could be the cause."

Through Ma Yu-Seong, Baek Yu-Seol had learned that the Dark Mage King had been gravely injured.

Perhaps other dark mages were seizing the opportunity to wage war and vie for the throne. Or they could simply be escalating tensions to weaken the King’s authority.

Of course, the Dark Mage King wouldn’t sit idly by, so the result was widespread faction wars.

The battle before him was likely just a small fraction of the power struggles happening across the world. Somewhere else, there might even be risk level 8 or 9 dark mages clashing.

’A regime change among the dark mages already?’

It was far too early.

This was supposed to occur after Ma Yu-Seong had graduated, yet this war was happening prematurely, disrupting the timeline. After this conflict, the main storyline could spiral out of control, hurtling toward its conclusion.

’It’s not something I should worry about right now.’

For now, Baek Yu-Seol’s mission was to retrieve the Green Core. He had to focus on the immediate task.

The dark mages in front of him - regardless of which faction they belonged to - were simply obstacles that needed to be eliminated.

"From now on, you’d better start cooperating with each other. If you don’t, you’ll all die."

"What nonsense...!"

There were at least 50 dark mages occupying the port, including the remaining four risk level 7 ones.

"You seem confident in your skills, but can you still speak so boldly in the face of these numbers?"

...Those were the dark mage’s final words.

Before even 20 minutes had passed, Baek Yu-Seol had neatly dealt with all the dark mages. Wiping the blood off his sword, he sighed.

There hadn’t even been a need to test Golden Solstice Moon’s Essence. The dark mages had fallen far too easily.

Had they truly cooperated, things might have been more challenging for Baek Yu-Seol. However, even as they fought him, they were too busy keeping each other in check to properly coordinate their attacks.

In short, they had destroyed themselves.

"If fools like these ever managed to conquer the world, it would be a disaster."

Shortly afterward, upon receiving news that Baek Yu-Seol had eradicated the dark mages, the Duelis No. 3 airship landed at the utterly destroyed Brightly Port.

"How could this happen... my hometown..."

Some people despaired as they looked at the ruined port. Others, who had only been passing through, grumbled about the lack of boat services now.

"At least the disaster relief center will be restoring the port soon. The airships should be operational again shortly. Thank you, Mr. Baek Yu-Seol."

The captain of the airship came out to thank him personally, and Baek Yu-Seol replied with a customary response.

"It was something I had to do."

Though the words were spoken mechanically, out of habit, they seemed to have a different effect on those listening.

"To think he calls entering a dangerous area and fighting alone something he had to do..."

"I used to think magic warriors were just people chasing money, but now I see them differently."

"Someday, I want to be like him..."

Whatever misconceptions or fantasies they were forming, Baek Yu-Seol no longer cared.

"Well, then, I’ll be off."

Leaving the cleanup of Brightly to the Mage Association, Baek Yu-Seol quickly moved on.

In the past, he might have spent time basking in the gratitude and cheers of the people, but now was not the time for that.

Brightly Port was a city built between two cliffs. These days, with fewer ships, the port was mostly filled with fishing boats. It wasn’t uncommon to find illegal fishing vessels willing to offer smuggling services for a small fee.

Baek Yu-Seol’s original plan had been to use one of those smuggling boats to search the nearby islands of Brightly for clues. However, with all the boats destroyed, that was no longer an option.

"In a situation where the exact location is unknown, searching the islands would have been the fastest method."

Dark mages typically made their homes far from human settlements, on abandoned islands overrun with monsters or in treacherous mountain ranges.

He had managed to gather information indicating that a group of dark mages had stolen the Green Core and taken refuge near Brightly. However, beyond that, he knew little, so his plan to search the islands thoroughly from the start had already been derailed.

’I guess I’ll have to search the forest until the port is restored.’

Since the local citizens were still alive, the ships would likely be repaired quickly. And given the extensive damage to their property, many of them would eagerly agree to lend their boats if Baek Yu-Seol offered a generous sum of money.

"For now..."

Using his Sentient Spec, Baek Yu-Seol projected a map into the air and compared it with the scenery in front of him.

"It matches perfectly."

The map showed this area as a forest, but upon arriving, Baek Yu-Seol found a large fortress standing there instead.

Moreover, the strange, grotesque figures moving along the walls were unmistakably dark mages. While this confirmed he was in the right place, the problem was that he had no way of knowing whether the Green Core was actually here.

"Their defenses are lax."

It seemed they didn’t even have the concept of taking shifts to guard the area. In a human fortress, the watchtowers would be manned with soldiers, but here, no one was stationed in those positions.

In other words, the fortress was an ideal location for Baek Yu-Seol to infiltrate unnoticed.

Concealing himself in the shadows, he swiftly moved toward the fortress wall. With a quick leap, he landed lightly atop the wall.

Before two dark mages who spotted him could shout, he silenced them with a clean cut to their necks.

Dragging their bodies to a corner and stuffing them out of sight ensured his intrusion was perfectly concealed. After all, dark mages didn’t care if one of their own went missing.

With no assigned guard posts, no one would even question the absence of a sentry.

’...Still, this place is quite large.’

To reach the deepest part of the fortress and confront the boss-level leader, he would likely have to navigate a treacherous path.

With the number of dark mages exceeding several hundred, it would be difficult for Baek Yu-Seol to handle them all on his own. Without any wide-area magic, he was confident he could escape, but taking out such a large group all at once was beyond his current abilities.

’Still, I should be able to take over the fortress by the end of the day.’

Slowly, cautiously, meticulously.

Just as Baek Yu-Seol prepared to take his next step—

Beep!

An ominous sensation washed over him, sending chills through his entire body. Reacting instinctively, he hurled himself backward, even using consecutive Flash to retreat further.

Moments later—

Boom!!!

A massive object fell from the sky, obliterating a section of the fortress in an instant.

"Ugh..."

Engulfed by the violent shockwave, Baek Yu-Seol wrapped himself in the protective aura of Golden Solstice Moon and squinted through the dust and chaos to assess the situation.

’...What the hell is that?’

The fortress was already half-destroyed, and the master of the fortress - who must have been waiting in the tallest tower - was now covered in blood, held by the collar by someone.

A dark mage, at least risk level 7 and possibly risk level 8, had been subdued in mere seconds!

’Who on earth...?’

Squinting, Baek Yu-Seol focused his gaze on the figure and was taken aback by what he saw.

"...Dark Knight?"

It was an incredibly unique dark mage, clad in black armor that seemed to mimic the Dark Mage King.

The creature was none other than the Dark Knight, the right-hand of the Dark Mage King and one of the most dangerous boss monsters in Aether World Online. And now, it had unexpectedly appeared here.

"Why is he here...?"

While Baek Yu-Seol stared blankly at the Dark Knight, the latter snapped the neck of the dark mage it had been holding, killing it instantly.

Then, as if sensing something, the Dark Knight whipped his head around to look directly at Baek Yu-Seol’s hiding spot.

It wasn’t just a glance, the Dark Knight was staring straight at him.

Meeting its gaze, Baek Yu-Seol felt sweat trickling down his back.

’...It feels like the worst possible moment to run into him.’

He had once used the Dark Knight’s name to his advantage, which had caused some trouble for him. On top of that, Baek Yu-Seol had interfered with his plans multiple times. If caught, there was no doubt that his life would end here.

Which left him with only one option.

’Run.’

It was the only way he could hope to survive.