Chapter 1290. The Magic Tower (3)

“Jung Ha-Yan moved the entire Sacred Democratic Country away and... turned land into the sea.”

“...”

“...”

It felt like I was standing in the middle of a battle pulled straight from a mythical story. Of course, Jung Ha-Yan’s spells had always been shocking, but the scene unfolding before me filled me with awe that I couldn’t just put into words.

The tide surged slowly, swallowing Lindel, and the moment it vanished beneath the waves, the land battle suddenly shifted into a naval one.

Only the Magic Tower remained standing tall amid the crashing sea, serving like a lone lighthouse, and out of nowhere, fleets appeared across the waters.

The rhythm of drums echoed across the ocean as well.

“Row! Keep rowing!”

“Put your backs into it, you bastard! Harder!”

“One! Two!”

“One! Two!”

“Harder, you dumbasses! One! Two! One! Two!”

“Prepare the mana cannons! Ready to fire!”

“Turn the ship! Just like we practiced!”

“Fire! Fire!!!”

Boom! Boom! Boom! Kaboooooom!!!

With a deafening roar that shook my eardrums, the fleet unleashed its mana cannons.

The giant demons swept up by the waves were left exposed, and they let out screams of agony upon getting hit by the bombardment.

Perhaps due to their primitive technology, the recoil from the cannons was so powerful that it rocked ships.

The waves had already carried away the smaller demons, and even massive ones were staggering, howling in pain. The tide of battle turned, and it was all because of a single spell, cast at the very last moment.

It was the perfect example of how one capable adventurer could single-handedly reshape a battlefield, and more than that, it proved exactly why mages were so revered in large-scale warfare. Even Big Boy, who had been holding me just moments ago, seemed at a loss for words.

He was in a daze as he stammered, “Th-The archmage... Are you kidding... That’s insane.

Ha... hahaha! Hahahahaha!

”

“...”

“Is this really possible? Are you serious?!

Ha... hahaha!

”

What more could be said?

‘A genius.’

What other word could describe her?

It was no wonder Kim Hyun-Sung was so desperate to find Jung Ha-Yan. It made perfect sense why he believed she was the trump card that could save the continent in the second life. The Jung Ha-Yan I was looking at right now looked more like the god of magic than the actual god of magic.

Despite that, it was strange. By all measurable standards, the current Jung Ha-Yan had far less mana than her second life counterpart; her mana recovery was lower, and she had fewer traits as well as unique skills.

In terms of pure stats, she was leagues behind, but she had succeeded in casting a spell that her current self wasn't supposed to be able to channel, much less complete.

When it came to raw firepower, she couldn’t even be compared with her second life counterpart, and despite that, she stood at the pinnacle of magic in an entirely different sense.

Her obsessive nature wasn’t fixated on me this time. She was fixated on magic itself. In this world, her only friend wasn’t Han Sora or me. It was magic. In the second life, magic was her tool, but here, it was her purpose.

If one were to ask me whether the first life Jung Ha-Yan was more capable than the second life version, I’d shake my head and say no, but even so...

‘That’s a monster.’

Everyone definitely thought the same. Even First Life Lee Ki-Young watching this unfold had to be thinking that way as well.

“Fire!”

Booooom!

“Fireeeeeee!”

Kabooooooooooom!

“Reload! Reload, damn it! Wipe them all out! Those dirty demon bastards!”

“

Kyaaaaaaaah!

”

“Take down any of them trying to board the ship!”

“

Ahhhhhhhhh!

”

“Protect the tower! Make sure to keep using your spells!”

“

Hahahaha! Hahahaha!

Sh-She’s insane! The archmage!

Hahahaha!

The archmage!”

“Keep firing! Damn it! Keep going! Keep firing!”

“What are the mages doing?! Keep casting your spells!”

“Push forward! You bastards! Don’t stop! Pour everything you’ve got!”

The human allied forces, who had been on the defensive all this time, were now unleashing everything they had as if they had been waiting for this moment.

At this point, the black mages of Saladin could no longer put up a proper fight, as they were flailing wildly in the sea and could barely keep their heads above the water.

Some of the summoned demons had already been recalled. Some were still holding the line up front, and apparently others were maintaining their summons from far away. In a nutshell, roughly half of the summoned demons were still around, and most of them were mid-rank at best.

There was no chance they could perform a counterattack.

‘There are a few high-ranking demons...’

However, the humans had a plan to deal with those. A ship bearing the Blue Guild’s insignia arrived at the battlefield. At its bow, standing tall at the very front, was Kim Hyun-Sung, silently surveying the sea.

‘Does he always have to strike a pose like that?’

To be fair, he looked cool, and as always, the answer was style.

He looked like some grand admiral from the Age of Exploration, ready to claim the world. The problem was that Kim Hyun-Sung wasn’t an admiral. He was a swordsman.

He dove straight into the sea. Without wings and spells, he shot forward like a bullet, flying straight toward one of the massive demons thrashing in the waves. He was right in the middle of raining arrows and exploding magic spells.

“

Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

”

The monster let out a shriek and swung its giant fist blindly, but Kim Hyun-Sung slipped past it effortlessly, and in one smooth motion, he chopped off its head. It was the kind of swordsmanship that made me feel awe.

“Wow...” Big Boy mumbled in awe.

“Th-That monster...”

With a loud

splash,

a wave suddenly surged upward, and Kim Hyun-Sung used it as a foothold, twisting in mid-air to slice down the next demon.

Even as Jung Ha-Yan struggled to maintain her spell, she was still creating stepping stones beneath his feet. It wasn’t just him. The other high-ranking adventurers were doing the same. They rose up from the sea like it was solid ground, launching relentless attacks against enemies that had no way to fight back.

I saw Cha Hee-Ra, Park Yeon-Joo, some known named players in the first life as well as familiar and unfamiliar faces. Among them, I saw a face familiar to me in Yuno’s gray world. That person...

‘Was her name Kim Ah-Young?’

If memory was serving me correctly, then she was the woman who was enraged by Jung Ha-Yan’s death back then. And...

‘Jo Hye-Jin.’

She was still alive. Leaping from place to place with nothing but a spear in hand, she left quite the impression. Some faces were twisted with exhaustion while others were lit up with joy and triumph.

As someone who had just landed here, it all seemed like the battle had ended in a flash, but judging from their faces, that clearly wasn't the case.. Even just looking into the eyes of Big Boy next to me, I could tell that they’d been fighting for a long, long time.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the battle in Lindel had been dragging on for at least two days.

From the moment the demons breached the city walls to the point where they reached the Magic Tower, there had to have been an unimaginably brutal struggle.

Countless people died or were seriously wounded, and they probably held back, bided their time, and coiled like snakes until the demons had finally pushed in.

‘They would have needed quite some time to build the ships, too.’

This long, drawn-out war had to have been leading up to this very moment.

‘It looks cool... but it’s not exactly efficient.’

I couldn’t understand why they had to make Lindel the battlefield, and I also couldn't understand what kind of desperate situation led to the frontlines being pushed all the way back to here.

I was sure they had their own reasons, and it looked like they’d win in the end, but I could say with confidence the human side had paid a massive price to achieve all this.

It would take years just to rebuild Lindel, and the scars of this war wouldn’t heal anytime soon.

I suppose, no matter how it was going to end...

‘It’s over.’

Ships were still clashing with demons swimming in from the sea, and I could still see flying demons circling in the distance. Anyone with half a brain could tell that they had already won the war.

Big Boy collapsed on the ground, shouting, “It’s over... It’s finally over! Damn it! This... godforsaken war is finally over!"

“...”

“Damn... this really dragged on. It was extremely long!” he added.

Even someone as dumb-looking as him could recognize that much, so it only made sense that I also burst into tears without realizing it.

“

Heuk... heuuuk...

”

The sense of relief overwhelmed me so much that I couldn’t hold the tears back any longer. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t stop crying. Seeing my tears, Big Boy definitely felt sorry for the pitiful trainee mage. He reached out and patted my head.

“Don’t cry,” Big Boy said.

“

Kgh... hiccup... heuk...

”

“

Haha...

come on, I said, don’t cry! Kid, this is a good day. You should be laughing, now crying like that,” Big Boy said.

“

Heuk...

but...” I mumbled.

‘I’ll keep this guy around for a while. I could use him as a meat shield.’

He wasn’t some overpowered adventurer, but he looked like the type who could take a hit or two for someone. He looked kind of kind-hearted, too...

“The war is over,” Big Boy said.

“...”

“No more cursed plagues... no more fighting in piles of corpses... no more demons to torture us,” Big Boy added.

‘Well... I wouldn’t be so sure. That’s just what you think...’

The black mage faction Saladin, led by First Life Lee Ki-Young and First Life Lee Ji-Hye, had suffered catastrophic losses, but the human side paid a huge price for their victory as well.

Still, something told me that this outcome had already been factored into someone’s calculations.

The battle was over, but the war was still ongoing. They would keep tearing each other apart, gnawing at their own flesh in the name of survival until the Outer Gods finally appeared.

“We finally drove off those bastards... so don’t cry, okay?” Big Boy said.

“

Heuk...

”

“You were brave, too. Alright? If I were your age, I’d have bolted the first chance I got. You wet yourself and made a fool of yourself plenty, but still... you were pretty cool, so be a little proud of that,” Big Boy added.

“...”

I lowered my head, and the cocky Big Boy reached over and patted it again.

“Hey... look over there,” Big Boy said.

He tilted my chin up and forced me to look up. The seawater was receding. Adventurers were raising their arms and shouting in victory. Corpses of humans, demons, and black mages littered the battlefield, but, as always, the roar of triumph drowned out the horrors of war.

He probably couldn’t see all of that. Right now, his head was full of one thought, and it was the thought that the threat was finally gone and that perhaps their life could finally return to normal.

I had to admit that the scene

really

was beautiful. The falling rain finally stopped, and the sun was finally breaking through the storm clouds. The remaining seawater shimmered, reflecting the skies.

Light streamed through the gaps in the clouds, and the world began to brighten up. It was a kind of breathtaking sight where one would expect angels to descend at any moment.

𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

The adventurers cheered amidst the beautiful scene.

How could anyone not get emotional in a moment like this?

“What do you think? Beautiful, right? Look at that sky,” Big Boy said.

He let out a loud, hearty laugh as if he had just delivered some memorable line.

‘What’s with this guy and telling me to look at the sky?’

I glanced at my temporary meat shield and muttered, “Yes, it’s... really beautiful.”

However, Jung Ha-Yan probably wouldn’t think the same. Thanks to her, Lindel was saved, but at the same time, there were countless casualties.