Magic Academy’s Genius Blinker

Chapter 245



Chapter 245

The Witch (12)

***

Swish!

A glass shard grazed Baek Yu-seol’s cheek.

Though it only brushed by lightly, the stinging sensation was so vivid that Baek Yu-seol belatedly sensed the pain and furrowed his brow.

“Ugh, damn. This is annoyingly hard to distinguish.”

Even with his intuition maximized, it wasn’t easy to properly detect the attacks since his opponent was a mage several levels above him.

Her ability was strong enough to offset even the overwhelming compatibility of illusion magic not working on him.

Boom boom boom!!

A shower of bubbles poured down from the ceiling. Despite their pretty appearance, it was a brutal magic that exploded everything it touched, but this time he didn’t dodge.

This attack didn’t need to be avoided.

“Five steps.”

Ignoring the bubbles, he dashed forward with precise steps, then blinked.

After moving 10m, he swung his sword, but the opponent summoned a stone tablet inscribed with ancient language to block it.

“Two steps back.”

He quickly retreated, and giant claws emerged from the floor, sweeping through where he had just been standing.

That attack… might have been quite dangerous if it had hit.

“But I can tell for sure now.”

Baek Yu-seol narrowed his eyes and stared at the illusion dominating this entire space.

Illusion magic normally works by disrupting the target’s mana to make them see hallucinations. That’s why it shouldn’t work on him at all, but…

“Some spells have substance.”

An illusion with substance. It was truly an ironic statement, but it was the truth.

Melisher had inherited the ability of the legendary mage, the “Last Witch,” who could manifest illusions into reality.

That overwhelming magic that casts illusions on the world itself rather than on the opponent’s mind had only appeared three times in the original game, but each time it displayed such an atrocious ability that it shocked players.

And this was its first appearance.

[Episode] choices varied, but if you made the wrong choice, you would end up in a direct boss battle with Melisher. At that time, the first strategy tip written was this:

[Strategy, First.]

[If possible, reload your save file to get a route where you don’t fight the witch Melisher.]

[If you’ve already saved twice or more and lost your previous data…]

[Too bad.]

How bad must it have been for the very first instruction to be using a bug to restore data files?

To suppress Melisher’s boss battle’s flood of illusion magic, you needed help from Kaen and Hyeijin, who should be lurking somewhere in Arcaneum by now, or support from the Stella Knights. If you had to fight alone…

The odds of winning were zero.

“But the character Baek Yu-seol was different.”

At that time, the only person on Earth who had raised “character Baek Yu-seol” from summer vacation to the start of the new semester was Baek Yu-seol himself.

Back then, while fighting Melisher, he was able to observe a very special phenomenon – the ability to distinguish between the witch’s magic “attacks with substance” and those without.

In other words, character Baek Yu-seol had complete immunity to incomplete illusion magic that lacked substance.

Of course, attacks with and without substance were marked with colors, but it wasn’t easy to distinguish them one by one. He remembered having to pour dozens of hours into defeating the witch Melisher back then.

“I never thought I’d be fighting her again in reality…”

But that memory was undoubtedly helpful.

“The bubbles are fake, but most attacks in animal forms are real.”

He dodges some attacks with all his might, while only pretending to dodge others to make Melisher let her guard down.

She still doesn’t realize there’s a flaw in her magic.

That’s because anyone without Mana Leakage Syndrome would have been completely caught in all the illusions, taking damage without needing to distinguish between “illusions with substance” and “illusions without substance.”

“According to the setting… Melisher’s ability was still growing, wasn’t it?”

Because it was still developing, only some illusions had substance, which became an intensive attack point for Baek Yu-seol, but he couldn’t be complacent.

“This is reality.”

In Aether World Online, you just had to exploit weaknesses to defeat enemies, but as always, games and reality were different.

The one thing Baek Yu-seol was worried about was:

“Melisher… realizing the nature of her own magic.”

According to the original plan, she would need the power of a special witch hunter to grow to the next level.

But in reality, something else might trigger her abilities to explode explosively. Even knowing her weakness and having an advantage in compatibility didn’t necessarily mean an advantage in actual combat.

“There’s no opening to attack at all…”

He deliberately hid the maximum range of his blink by about 2m, keeping it as a final move, but there was no suitable opportunity to use this tactic.

From the start, Melisher was trying to keep her distance as much as possible to deal with the non-standard magic of blinking comfortably.

“Still, I can force an attack opportunity!”

[Blink]

As rocks erupted from the floor, he teleported while skillfully avoiding them, then swung his sword. Melisher hurriedly spread a snail shell-shaped shield in the air.

But that too was part of the plan.

Baek Yu-seol pressed the button on the small light he was holding in his left hand and swept it across the snail shell, instantly dispelling the illusion magic.

“Ah…!”

That was undoubtedly a witch hunter’s magical tool.

“But…!”

Melisher gritted her teeth and clapped her hands together, then brought them to her chest. Branches sprouted from her back, covering her entire body, and Baek Yu-seol’s sword bounced off them.

Stagger.

“Ugh…?!”

Unable to withstand the unexpected recoil, Baek Yu-seol lost his balance and stumbled greatly.

“Crap…!”

In that split second, Baek Yu-seol sensed danger. He had shown too big an opening against a veteran mage, and there was still a slight gap before he could blink again.

Expecting to suffer a critical hit if struck by an attack in this state, he tried to curl up his body to brace for impact, but.

Step!

“…Huh?”

Instead of attacking Baek Yu-seol, Melisher retreated greatly and raised her trembling hand to point her broomstick.

“What? Why isn’t she attacking?”

Though it saved his life, Baek Yu-seol couldn’t understand her actions.

But for her, it was quite a rational decision.

“A forced opening.”

Melisher had lived for decades and faced countless enemies. So she had long since realized that her current opponent was quite skilled.

For such a veteran magic warrior to show such a big weakness?

It was impossible.

“How pathetic.”

She wouldn’t fall for such a cheap trick.

“…Hmm.”

Seeing Baek Yu-seol slowly and precariously regaining his balance, Melisher’s mind went blank.

“What? That attitude…”

She had already figured out the ploy of showing an opening to bait her attack.

Yet he was still staggering and struggling to regain balance as if he was truly off-balance until the end.

This… was no longer something that could be called magic combat or psychological warfare.

If anything, it was more like the kind of thing you’d do to mock and provoke an opponent you look down on.

Once that thought occurred to her.

“…Don’t make me laugh!!”

Melisher gritted her teeth and shouted as if overcome with anger.

“…What?”

Baek Yu-seol was greatly flustered when she suddenly shouted. But even his reaction to that seemed disgusting to her, and she screamed at the top of her lungs.

“Do you know what kind of resolve it took for me to come this far? You think I came here to be toyed with by a lowly human like you! What do you think you’re doing!”

Blood seeped from her tightly clenched lips.

It wasn’t from an injury inflicted by Baek Yu-seol.

She was biting her own lip so hard that it bled.

“How dare you… Do you know what kind of determination I have… to play around…”

After fighting this long, she had no choice but to realize.

None of her attacks were working on him at all.

She accepted that harsh reality with every fiber of her being, to the point where she felt hopeless.

However…

The opponent is not killing me.

Why?

No matter how much she thought about it, there was only one reason.

“I’m… going to recreate the world of witches. A village of witches, a city of witches, a country of witches. Did you think it was funny that I… was just running a restaurant?”

From the moment they open their eyes, witches are alone. It was fate, providence, and an unchangeable truth.

Witches, lacking social skills and emotions, are like hungry beasts, never yielding to each other except perhaps to seize each other’s territory.

In the end, witches couldn’t band together and were hunted down one by one by witch hunters, now reduced to living shamefully hidden in the shadows.

The witches who were once said to be able to easily conquer the world if they put their minds to it… the most superior and excellent race on earth.

Melisher hated that.

Society? Country? Loneliness?

The reason she wanted to create them was nothing else.

“I’m sick and tired of being mistreated by inferior races anymore. And now, you’re saying I have to be disrespected by an inferior human who can’t even use magic after coming this far…?”

Baek Yu-seol hardened his expression and pointed his sword again. The opponent seemed to have some strange misunderstanding, but there was no need to correct it.

If anything, it was for the better.

Thinking that, he tried to prepare his battle stance again, but suddenly…

Stop.

“No.”

Melisher dropped her arms.

“No. No. Ah, I see now.”

Tilting her head to the side, she stared at Baek Yu-seol with empty, hollow eyes. As if staring like that would somehow pierce through him.

“Why were you dragging this out without killing me?”

“To play around? No. I thought so at first… but thinking about it again, that doesn’t seem to be it. Right?”

Baek Yu-seol didn’t respond.

But Melisher smiled grotesquely, splitting one corner of her mouth up to her ear as if she had gained certainty.

“Aha? I see. You’re afraid of this space, aren’t you? Illusions may not work on you… but if you kill me, you won’t be able to escape from this space completely isolated from reality!”

“…Wait, what did you say?”

What is she talking about now?

He didn’t want to understand, but the automatic translation function of his Bulbul Glasses analyzed the magic and injected it into his mind whether he wanted it or not.

[Analysis of the special witch magic ‘Illusion Barrier’ is complete.]

After a brief headache like lightning striking through his head, Baek Yu-seol looked up with a dazed expression.

[Illusion Space]

* Type: Reality-based Illusion (Witch)

* Description: A witch who has reached the pinnacle of illusion magic can create a new space through imagination.

* Analysis: This space is a new dimension isolated from reality…

* Reverse calculation formula▼

[Void type, Space type, Reality-based illusion, Charm type…]

Even amidst the flood of countless pieces of information surging up, Baek Yu-seol was able to find and read the most important sentence.

“Is it really… an isolated space?”

This is the first time he’s heard of this.

No, an isolated space in the first place.

Melisher in Aether World Online didn’t use such an amazing level of magic.

No matter how much of an illusion it is, it would take at least five 7th class space mages gathered together to distort space itself.

“The reverse calculation is…”

Impossible.

All the types needed to reverse calculate the illusion space magic were rare kinds, so even if Baek Yu-seol didn’t have Mana Leakage Syndrome, it would have been virtually impossible to escape from here.

Cold sweat suddenly started pouring down. Winning the battle was no longer the important issue.

“Ahaha… That’s enough now. Now that I know what you’re afraid of, there’s no need to drag this out any longer, is there?”

Laughing dejectedly as she lowered her broomstick, Melisher pointed her index finger at the air.

Dong…!

A small ripple spread through the air as if lightly tapping a glass bell. However, it had an influence that encompassed this entire space.

“I’m closing off the space.”

“You’ve probably been trying to figure out how to escape until now… but you didn’t know about this, did you?”

Baek Yu-seol hurriedly rushed towards the wall of the illusion barrier and swung his sword, but there was only a dull impact like hitting a steel wall with a wooden stick, with no effect.

“This is insane! If you do this, you won’t be able to escape either!”

“Ha, why should I care?”

She’s going to die anyway, so what does that matter now?

Besides, if she’s lucky enough to kill Baek Yu-seol and absorb him, she could gain the essence of a witch hunter, so opening the closed illusion barrier wouldn’t be a problem.

“Ah, your expression… has turned fierce… Have you finally lost your composure? Are you thinking of taking me seriously now?”

She covered her mouth with the back of her hand and laughed like a refined lady.

“But what can you do? Even if you kill me now, you’ll be trapped forever in this illusion with no way out.”

As Baek Yu-seol silently pointed his sword, Melisher’s smile deepened with satisfaction.

“This is the price for trampling on my pride and mocking me. Accept it gracefully.”

Elegantly mounting her vertically positioned broomstick, she parted her crimson lips.

“Now then, show me your full power.”

Eventually, Melisher’s body floated up, passing through the ceiling of the sewer to rise into the skies of Arcaneum.

Then, with a soft laugh.

“Before we go, we can at least maintain each other’s pride, can’t we?”

She whispered in a languid tone towards Baek Yu-seol who was looking up at her.

End of Chapter


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