Magic Monopoly: Reborn as the Sole Magic Tower Master-Chapter 77: Episode

<Rapid Arrow>

In the air, dozens—no, hundreds—of golden arrows materialized all at once. Anton tilted his head.

“Mana Arrow... no, it’s different. Smaller and faster.”

I stretched out my right arm. It didn’t matter if the launch point was exposed.

’Fire them the instant they’re complete.’

I would just push through with sheer, overwhelming firepower.

Countless golden arrows poured down from the sky. Anton had always countered my magic with a higher-tier version. But...

<Round Shield>

This time, it wasn’t a higher-tier spell. A multi-layered, circular shield that covered all sides unfolded. Immediately after, the golden downpour struck it.

A battle of arrows and shield. The fiercely erupting golden sparks were so intense they made my eyes ache.

“Hey, Fourteen! If you operate that much magic so recklessly, you’ll die from mana backlash!”

Reckless? Not a chance. As if to prove it, I added dozens more Rapid Arrows. There was no escape. Golden flashes were exploding from every angle of the 360-degree shield.

“Kuaaargh!”

Anton poured his magic power into restoring the shield, but the Rapid Arrows were breaking it down faster. Cracks appeared, the fissures widening. Then, one layer of the shield shattered and peeled away. Immediately followed by the second. The third. The fourth.

“Aaaargh!” Anton shrieked, a sound of pure desperation.

I refused to let up, intensifying the assault. ’I can win! I can finally reach him!’

-Tower Master! If you continue any longer, you will be in danger as well!

’No, keep going! This is the only chance!’

It was at that moment, as I was attacking the final, fifth shield, that Anton grabbed a necklace he was wearing. Then, he crushed it between his fingers.

’Fwoooosh!’

A blue wave pulsed from his body, forcibly dissolving his own barrier and my Rapid Arrows into raw mana. Every other magic circle in the vicinity scattered into nothingness.

I was confused. The mana I had used began to flow back into my body.

“I admit it, I admit it. Very well done.” ’Gurgle, gurgle.’ Water gushed out from beneath Anton’s feet, lifting his body. “Now you understand, right? There’s only one way to beat an opponent who uses stronger magic than you: train your ‘individuality’ to the extreme. Now then, shall we move on to the next lesson?”

’Swoooooooosh!’

A large volume of water erupted from under his feet, transforming into a massive tidal wave that swept across the floor toward me.

’Water-attribute magic!’

Anton drew a magic circle on his palm and placed it on the tidal wave he was riding. From the moving wave, bullets of water began to pour out like a machine gun.

-Tower Master! Be careful! It is a second-order water-attribute magic not in the database!

’If it’s not in your database, does that mean it’s Anton’s original spell?’

The shield I deployed for defense shattered with a single water bullet. The power and speed were considerable, and what’s more, the magic was pouring out of the tidal wave without any preparation.

’I have to outrun this.’

I quickly summoned Leap Boots, stomped on them, and launched myself backward.

“Whoopsie-daisy!”

Anton, riding the tidal wave, swung his arm as if pulling on reins. The wave soared up, changed direction, and pursued me. His movement and attacks were completely fluid. Moreover, despite using a large amount of water, more water continuously welled up from the floor, maintaining the wave’s form.

Even as I fled, I examined his spells with my Sage’s Eye.

’...Wow.’

The moment I saw the formula, I was struck with a profound sense of awe. How many years, how much painstaking research must it have taken to find such an ideal balance and make it entirely his own? I could understand the structure of the magic with my Sage’s Eye, but I didn’t dare try to copy it. It was truly an original magic that only Anton could use.

’In that case, I’ll use mine...!’

While retreating, I once again began to stack Rapid Arrows in the air. Noticing my movement, Anton’s gaze also turned toward the ceiling.

“Nice try!” He whipped his arm around as if pulling on reins.

’Swoooooooosh!’

The tidal wave surged, instantly passing through my half-formed Rapid Arrow magic circles. The current washed away the formulas, forcibly dispelling the spell.

’Whatever.’

I loaded Light Devastar into both my feet. ’Getting him airborne was a success.’

I planted my left foot firmly on the ground and activated Devastar. My body shot forward like a cannonball, cutting through the air and closing in right in front of Anton. Surprised, he tried to deploy a shield, but...

<Light Devastar>

It wasn’t a contact-based strike. I maintained a straight line between my leg and Anton’s head and activated Devastar. My foot, trailing black smoke, shot forward and struck Anton squarely in the head.

’Thwump!’

An excruciating pain, as if my leg was being torn apart, shot through me.

’I won! It landed!’

Just as I was certain of my victory, Anton, who had taken the full force of the kick, creaked as he turned his head to look at me.

He was dumbstruck.

His neck wasn’t broken, nor was his body sent flying. He was just standing there on the tidal wave. Instead, some kind of barrier around his body shattered with a crash, and his second necklace broke.

“So close.” Anton’s arm stretched out toward me. “No, perhaps I should be honest in a situation like this?”

A spray of water rose from the tidal wave, grabbed my body, and began to plummet toward the floor like a comet.

“You’re still a loooong way off.”

With a massive crash, my consciousness was cut off again.

* * *

Through the radio, a desperate voice crackled through.

“Emergency, emergency! This is Myeonmok 2-dong, Jungnang District! We have an unobserved fissure event! Requesting immediate support! Do you copy?!”

“This is Cheongdam Guild, Team L-15. What’s the situation? Over.”

“One rank-5 monster has appeared! National Guard soldiers and a certified rank-5 hunter party are engaged! Over.”

“Dammit, who is that on the comms? Are you kidding me? You’re telling me a party of rank-5s can’t handle a single rank-5 monster? Over.”

“It’s rank-5, but it’s on a different le-level! Requesting rapid support—! Uwaaaargh!”

’Crunch! Crack!’

A monster was striding forward, crushing illegally parked cars. The rank-5 monster, aoutus. It walked upright like a human, holding a sword with a bent blade. Its face was insect-like, with ten small, wriggling eyes.

“Hold the line here!” a soldier yelled. “If it gets to the subway station, casualties will skyrocket!”

“Fire everything!”

’Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!’

The muzzles of the soldiers’ guns beyond the blockade spewed fire. The aoutus raised the shield in its hand. A mana core activated, and a blue force field was deployed, deflecting all the bullets.

“This is insane! Who’s the idiot who lost their shield to a monster?!”

“More importantly, how can a monster operate a human shield?!”

aoutus charged forward, shield first. The soldiers at the blockade scattered in terror.

’BOOM!’

The blockade was shattered into the sky. Having instantly broken their formation, aoutus began to swing its sword indiscriminately. Soldiers fell, spraying blood.

A short distance away, a young hunter watching the slaughter bit her lip hard.

“...Captain!”

“I know how you feel, but wait for support. That thing has already wiped out one rank-5 party.”

She looked from the soldiers to her captain, who shook his head firmly. Then, looking back toward the soldiers, she spoke with resolve. “I didn’t become a hunter to stand by and watch people die!”

With those words, the hunter charged into the fray. “Certified rank-5, Ji Sohee. Going in!”

“H-hey! You brat! Come back! It’s dangerous to engage recklessly—!”

Sohee ripped off her cloak and swung it through the air. The fluttering fabric hardened and folded, taking the shape of a battle-axe as she brought it down on the aoutus.

’Clang!’

aoutus raised its sword to guard, and sparks flew as the two weapons collided. The monster’s arm trembled as if struggling to block, but it soon smoothly shifted its center of gravity to deflect the axe’s path.

“Hah!”

At that moment, Sohee let go of the axe, charged forward, and thrust out both hands from her waist. Handkerchiefs flowed from her belt, taking the form of twin daggers in her grasp.

’Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!’

In the ensuing close-quarters battle, the twin daggers swung repeatedly, inflicting several wounds on the aoutus. Spinning her body, she left a long gash on its chest and raised a corner of her mouth.

’I can win!’ She had the advantage up close. She had to keep pressing. She relentlessly attacked the monster.

“Ooooh!”

The young hunter was pushing the monster back! The surrounding soldiers and hunters all watched the battle with bated breath. Sparks flew as blades clashed numerous times. The aoutus’s balance began to falter.

’The finisher!’

She leaped into the air, caught the large axe that was fluttering down like an autumn leaf, and swung it.

The moment it touched her hands, its weight and power became real. The aoutus raised its sword to block again, completely losing its balance. Sohee landed a step ahead and thrust her dagger toward the monster’s neck.

’Thwack!’

“Kegh!”

Kicked by the aoutus, Sohee stumbled back.

’It didn’t lose balance?’

This time, aoutus was the one to charge first, sword in hand.

’Clang!’

She was dumbstruck.

It had suddenly changed beyond recognition. Every time their weapons clashed, her arm was precariously knocked back. Not only that, but it was now using the same feint-style swordsmanship she had, as if to mock her. Its already formidable strength was now fused with human technique.

’Don’t tell me it was pretending to be hit just to learn my skills...!’

The moment she realized she had fallen into a trap...

’Slash!’

Her head flew into the air in a spray of blood.

“Th-the rookie!”

“Aaargh! She made things worse!”

“One more casualty! Requesting immediate support!”

Her party members trembled with anger but couldn’t attack. The aoutus’s only trait was ’Learning.’ It made human martial arts and techniques its own. An aoutus that appeared in the Middle East four years ago had started as a rank-5 and, after numerous battles, reached rank-8 on its own. That aoutus was said to be so clever that it not only learned combat techniques but also traded with rebels for hunter devices.

The textbook strategy against an aoutus was simple: melt it with overwhelming firepower before it had a chance to learn. But the first rank-5 party on the scene had tried to play it safe, and their hesitation had led to this disaster.

’If it learns any more human techniques, the damage will be severe. We have to end it here, no matter what!’ The team’s captain thought. They had to subdue it before it evolved into a Disaster and escaped Seoul.

At that moment, aoutus broke through the soldiers’ encirclement and leaped up to the railing where the hunters were.

“Do not engage!”

“Falling back!”

The hunter party immediately created distance. The aoutus moved its ten eyes, scanning them. Then, as if realizing they wouldn’t fight, it started running toward the crowded subway station.

The captain’s brow furrowed deeply. “That bastard...!”

“I think it knows we have to protect the station!”

If it came to that, they had no choice but to stop it.

Just as the team leader was about to give the order to attack, a voice crackled over the radio, “This is Garam H-1. Engaging. Over.”

The captain flinched and grabbed his radio. It would be a catastrophe if some wannabe rank-5 rookies jumped in.

“Identify yourself! What’s your rank?”

“Certified rank-4.”

’CRASH!’

The aoutus, which had been charging toward the station, was suddenly sent flying into a guardrail. Dirt and stone fragments exploded into the air, obscuring the view. Everyone stared ahead, their eyes wide with disbelief.

A man was walking toward them, brushing his messy bangs from his face. His expression was etched with fatigue, but the gaze of his right eye, swirling with blue magic power, was nothing short of chilling.

“Wh-who is that?” a hunter asked.

The aoutus pushed itself up from the debris. Yusin stopped and studied the monster for a moment. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

“...So you’re the learning monster, huh?”

’Kriiieee.’

Yusin slowly raised his right arm. Dozens of blazing Fire Cannons materialized above his head.

“Then try learning this.”

With a demonic grin, Yusin swung his arm down.