The Game of a Legendary Genius Dark Mage-Chapter 224

Senior Knight Kalis stared at Seong with an expression of utter disbelief.

What did he just say?

He’s already completed the mission?

The words made sense, but they were impossible to believe.

The Blade Wolf, Lugalnias.

It was a mission deemed so difficult that at least five knights from the Equinox Knights were required to subdue it.

And yet, this rookie claimed to have handled it alone?

No matter how talented he was, even if he had ranked first in the knight exam, this was beyond comprehension.

“Give me that!!!”

Kalis shouted and snatched the mission document from Seong’s hand.

If what he said was true, the document would have been magically updated to indicate completion.

As he hastily scanned the paper, Kalis’s eyes locked onto the Completed mark.

The confirmation left him in stunned silence as he looked back at Seong.

No way.

This was real?

That meant this outsider possessed strength equivalent to five senior knights.

Kalis, now visibly shaken, stared at Seong with a mixture of shock and disbelief.

Seong, on the other hand, simply tilted his head, as if waiting for Kalis to process everything.

“You’ve confirmed it, right?”

“...Y-Yeah. I see it.”

“Thank you. Then, I’ll be off to complete more missions.”

“...What?”

He just returned from a mission.

And now he was going back out for another one?

Was that even possible?

Typically, knights would rest for at least a month after a mission.

Even within the Equinox Knights, known for their grueling workload, it was normal to take at least a week off.

Yet Seong had taken down Lugalnias today and was immediately setting out again?

This wasn’t normal.

"What the hell is he?!"

Kalis, still frozen in shock, could only watch as Seong walked toward the mission board once more.

He had thought of Seong as merely the most promising among the new recruits.

But this...

This was the real deal.

Kalis clenched his fists, watching Seong move with purpose.

I need to report this to the commander.

Swallowing hard, Kalis turned on his heels and hurried toward the office of Ragna Eckrion, commander of the Equinox Knights.

Seong watched Kalis leave and nodded in satisfaction.

That should do it.

The mission was completed, and his level had jumped by three.

The higher his level, the harder it was to gain experience, but—

[『Apostle of the Bloodline』 has offered experience.]

[You have gained experience points.]

A steady stream of experience messages popped up before him, bringing a satisfied smirk to his lips.

Thanks to both the mission and Imbris, the Apostle of the Bloodline, his level had already reached 173.

Still, there was a long way to go.

For now, quests were more important than level-ups.

『Commander of the Equinox Knights』

→ Gain the attention of the Equinox Knights’ commander, Ragna Eckrion.

It was a quest that could be considered both easy and difficult.

But if he continued completing missions at this rate, it was only a matter of time before he caught the commander’s # Nоvеlight # eye.

He had already finished at the top of his class.

As long as he kept proving himself through missions, it wouldn’t take long.

Confident in his plan, Seong reached the mission board.

There were more missions available than he had expected.

‘Hmm, what should I do next?’

The last mission—Lugalnias, the Blade Wolf—had been a fun raid boss.

Perhaps he should find something similar.

While it wasn’t a hidden raid boss, it had been significantly stronger than ordinary raid bosses.

Something right below the Hidden Raid Boss tier, maybe?

Since it wasn’t too difficult, he hadn’t needed to summon his Dark Lord’s minions.

And it had also helped him further adapt to his Dark Lord abilities.

‘So, what’s next?’

There were plenty of options, but this time, Seong focused on bounty missions.

Another five-knight mission.

In some ways, bounty missions were trickier than straightforward raid boss hunts.

That made them even more fun.

This is how a game should be.

Seong smirked, picked his next mission, and set out.

While his "Get Ragna Eckrion's Attention" quest was still active, he was also raking in a solid amount of experience from these missions.

5.

While Seong was selecting his next mission and leaving the barracks, Senior Knight Kalis had already reached the commander’s office.

Knock, knock.

He rapped on the door, his hands slightly trembling.

A tense silence filled the corridor.

Then, a deep voice came from within.

“Enter.”

A wave of relief washed over Kalis as he carefully pushed open the door.

Inside, Ragna Eckrion sat at his desk, focused on his work.

Ragna Eckrion—the leader of the strongest knightly order among the top three knight orders.

And the strongest commander of them all.

Yet, for Kalis, fear far outweighed respect.

He knew better than to get on this man’s bad side.

Lowering his head, he spoke carefully.

“I have a report regarding a new recruit.”

Ragna did not respond immediately.

The silence was suffocating.

But Kalis knew better than to assume it was disinterest.

Instead, he took the lack of response as permission to continue.

He took a deep breath.

“Yes, sir. One of the new recruits, Seong, ranked first in the entrance exam... has just completed a mission that required five knights. Alone.”

For the first time, Ragna Eckrion reacted.

“Hmm.”

The commander, who had remained still all this time, now paused his work and looked up.

His gaze locked onto Kalis.

Tell me more.

That’s what his expression said.

Kalis swallowed nervously.

He recounted everything he had seen—though, of course, he conveniently omitted the fact that he had assigned the mission as a form of hazing.

“Since he is an outsider, I wanted to test his abilities. I sent him on the mission to deal with Lugalnias.”

“He completed it in mere hours. And he has already left to take on another mission.”

Ragna sat back in his chair.

His expression unreadable.

Kalis could not tell if this was approval, curiosity, or something else entirely.

Then, Ragna spoke.

“Understood. Keep monitoring him.”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

“Report back if there’s anything else.”

“Yes, sir!!!”

“Dismissed.”

“Thank you, sir!!!”

Kalis all but bolted from the office.

Kalis, his body rigid with discipline, left the commander’s office.

Now alone, Ragna Eckrion rose from his seat and turned to look out the window.

At that moment, he spotted Seong leaving the barracks.

What an enticing prey.

If he were to consume him...

Perhaps everything would finally fall into place.

He had thought there would be something left even after devouring him.

But now, perhaps that time was closer than expected.

Perhaps even the day he would rule this city wasn’t far off.

And—

"The war may come sooner than I expected."

A chilling smirk curled on Ragna Eckrion’s lips as an ominous aura flickered around him before dissipating.

Not yet.

The fruit was not yet ripe enough to harvest.

He had to wait until it was ready.

The waiting was agonizing, but—

It wouldn’t be much longer.

"Soon, I’ll have to call for them."

6.

Bounty missions were certainly more troublesome than simple raid boss hunts.

Difficult? Not necessarily.

But tedious—yes.

Tracking a wanted criminal required gathering information, tracking movements, and setting an ambush.

In terms of raw combat strength, the Blade Wolf, Lugalnias, had been far more formidable.

Still, Seong had completed the bounty mission.

It hadn’t been easy.

"Fighting without my subordinates makes things much harder."

If Noctrynium had been with him, the mission would have been significantly easier.

Still, he felt oddly satisfied handling it alone.

The experience points were better than expected, too.

Thanks to that, his level had reached 174.

As he walked back toward the barracks, Seong's thoughts drifted to his subordinates in the Netherworld.

Especially his knight subordinates.

"Drakanos said they were training, right?"

Since Silvanor had regained a physical body, Drakanos had insisted on intensive training for all three of them.

Seong had sent them off, figuring he didn’t need Silvanor at the moment.

But seeing Silvanor’s absolutely miserable expression as he left...

It seemed like the training was far worse than expected.

Still, it was better than letting them slack off.

By the time Seong was returning to the barracks—

The Netherworld was deep in the midst of training.

Under Drakanos’s command, the training session continued.

Even Helena couldn’t help but be amazed.

“No matter how many times I see it, it’s insane.”

Because—

They were balancing an entire mountain of boulders on a single stick while swinging their swords.

Three entire mountains of rocks trembled with each movement.

And beneath those mountains—

Leonic, Valtar, and Silvanor were pinned underneath, struggling to lift them.

Unlike the others, Valtar and Silvanor had physical bodies, so their muscle fibers tore apart, blood bursting from their skin.

Still, they couldn’t stop swinging their swords.

Meanwhile, Leonic, who lacked muscles, suffered in a different way.

His bones twisted and cracked under the pressure.

No—it would’ve been better if they had just broken.

"Oh, poor things," Helena murmured, healing them with celestial power.

“KUAAARGH!!”

“AAAUUURGGGHH!!”

“GNNNGHHH!!!”

As the healing restored their bodies, the three knights let out screams of agony—or possibly joy.

Drakanos simply grumbled in his usual incomprehensible way.

But to the three knights, his words were perfectly clear:

“If your bodies break from this, then you need more training.”

Hearing that, Leonic and Valtar regretted everything.

When Silvanor was revived, they had hoped the training might ease up.

Instead, they had been thrown into group training together.

If only Seong had kept one or two of them behind...

But no—of all days, today had to be the day he needed none of them.

That was how this nightmare training began.

"I-I just want to rest... for a moment..."

"Why... is it... just us...?"

"W-We have to endure..."

The three of them bonded through shared suffering.

And then—

They all felt something was off.

They turned to look at each other.

"I... think it just got heavier?"

"Is that just me...?"

"No... look at your feet."

At some point—

A black abyss had formed beneath them.

They knew exactly whose power this was.

Slowly, all three of them looked up in horror.

Helena.

She tilted her head and said,

“Oh my? I thought you had enough energy to think about other things, so I increased the gravity a little.”

Her casual statement left them ashen-faced.

Drakanos, however, nodded approvingly.

"Magnificent work. Thank you."

Then—

He increased the training intensity.

The three knights despaired.

The fact that training could get even harder was beyond reason.

Yet their suffering continued.

Helena turned to Drakanos and asked,

“Will Seong go through training like this too?”

Drakanos shook his head.

"No. My lord only needs guidance in swordsmanship."

"These ones must train their bodies."

If the three knights had heard that, they would have lost their minds.

But they couldn’t.

Because the increased gravity had made them completely deaf.